The Succubus
by Lord of Impeccable Timing
Summary: Surprisingly, not as obscene as you think it will be. A demon slips between the two planes to steal the powers of one of the crew, somebody gets kidnapped, an epic battle ensues, and all the world is thrown into chaos. Good stuff.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, the Lord of Impeccable Timing here, with a wonderful new story for you all. I guess you'll see where it's going after a couple of chapters, and I hope you all enjoy it. It'll wind up being a dramedy [drama + comedy = dramedy, just in case you don't know]. Expositions rock!

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, which is sad, but true.

* * *

The day had begun like so many others. Kurama woke up to his own circadian rythm at nine to the locking of the front door (as his mother and soon-to-be-step-father left for work) and the simultaneous slamming of the back door (as his cousin snuck back into the house from her night of...well, he didn't know what, but she had certainly taken to leaving at random points during the night ever since school had let out for the summer. And, like clockwork, she would come in just as his parents left for work. Oftentimes, Kurama had considered asking her where she'd been, but he knew that his questions would be asked in vain).

Yawning, he stretched before getting out of bed and making his way to the kitchen for breakfast. Upon entering said kitchen, he caught sight of his cousin at the table, slowly sipping her morning coffee.

"Good morning Umi," he greeted cheerily, pouring himself a mug of coffee. Since she had most likely been up for hours, she shouldn't be too venomous, or so he'd reasoned.

"Put a shirt on, Shuichi," Umi snarked, "nobody wants to see that." She grinned as he rolled his eyes in mock annoyance while putting his bread in the toaster.

"How was your night?"

"Exhausting."

Kurama had to admit that he was intrigued; usually she would go silent or swear at him for acknowledging that she left at night. "Oh?" he inquired, purposefully not asking any specific question.

"It's true," Umi answered, finishing her coffee. "You don't even know."

"Clearly."

She nodded, putting down her mug. "I'd love to chat, but I have to get dressed so we can go out later."

"You're tagging along?"

His cousin stopped, turned toward him, raised her eyebrow, and held up his credit card. "I'm the one with all the money, so yeah."

Kurama laughed. "Alright, if you wish."

Umi nodded, disappearing behind the wall. Kurama was about to pull out a plate for his toast when he was smacked in the face by some cloth. Moments later, he realized that it was a shirt. "I was serious about the shirt thing," she called as she darted upstairs.

Laughing, he put on his shirt and prepared his now-toasted bread. He sat down at the table and began eating when he fancied that he heard the window open.

"Good morning Hiei," he greeted between bites of toast.

"Hn."

Kurama glanced back at the window, wherein the little demon was comfortably sitting. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

"Would you like to?"

"Would you like to go?"

"We can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not dressed yet."

Hiei sighed. "Fine."

"Man, how did we get stuck doing this?"

* * *

"Because Koenma thinks we need to bond in order to be a better team."

"We work together fine; we got through the Makai Tournament, didn't we?"

"How about you stop complaining about it? This is the easiest mission you'll get as the Spirit Detective, Urameshi."

Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, I suppose. I just don't know how I'll be able to spend a week with you all in the middle of nowhere."

Kuwabara sighed. "You act like you hate us all or something."

"Oh, like you get along with everybody," Yusuke sarcastically commented.

The question caused Kuwabara puff out his chest in pride. "As a matter of fact, I do."

In a light tone, Yusuke innocently inquired, "So now you and Hiei are BFFs?"

Kuwabara glared. "Shut up, wiseguy."

The two finally arrived at a small home on the end of a street near the train station. It was a back road, so hardly anybody was there. Yusuke knocked on the door once, then once again, then a third time. After a few moments, he knocked again.

"Yeesh, how late does this guy sleep?" Yusuke grumbled.

"Maybe he didn't hear you," Kuwabara suggested; Yusuke wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not, but he didn't have time to find out. The door opened, and neither saw who was there for a few seconds.

"Oh, it's you, Hiei," Yusuke laughed. "I was expecting Kurama; I didn't see you for a minute."

The little fire demon nearly slammed the door in his face, but Kurama intervened by calling from the kitchen. "Come on in; we'll have to wait a little while, though, before we can gather our supplies."

The two came in and sat at the kitchen table with Kurama; Hiei took his place on the windowsill.

"Did you just get up or something?" Kuwabara asked.

"No, idiot," Yusuke snarked, "he just likes to hang out in his jammies." Kuwabara glared, but the Spirit Detective didn't care and directed his next comment to Kurama. "Come on, get dressed and let's get going already; I've got to meet Keiko later and she'll be pissed if I'm late again."

"What is this, a party?"

The four boys in the kitchen snapped their attention toward the nearby stairwell, where the voice had originated. The demonic half of the group recognized her, but the humans had no idea who the black-haired, green-eyed girl was. She, in response, raised her eyebrow, which was decorated by a bright green bar. "You all act like I just sprouted a third arm or something."

"Um, Shuichi, you didn't tell us someone was here," Yusuke murmured, a slight suggestion left in his tone, and rather untactfully managing to remember to change the name by which he called Kurama, just in case.

"Is she coming with us?" Kuwabara asked, torn between dismay and joviality.

"Yes," Umi informed, keeping the skeptical glance on her countenance. "I've got Shuichi's credit card, so I'm going."

There was a pause in the room, broken only by Kurama coughing to hide his amused grin as he got up and left the room. "I'll be down momentarily," he called as he ascended the stairs.

"So what's your issue with me going?" Umi inquired, turning to Yusuke (who she didn't know). "You guys are just picking up camping supplies..."

"So he told you about our trip?" Kuwabara began, then distracted himself. "Wait, who are you, anyway?"

"Shuichi's paternal cousin," she answered mindlessly, ignoring the first question and looking over her outfit. It seemed that her favorite black shirt (the one with the Joker, as portrayed by Heath Ledger, on it) had shrunken in the wash, again, and held tightly to her thin form, and her black skinny jeans rode low on her hips while hugging them tightly. Sighing, she figured that the best way to keep herself from looking completely trampy would be to put her hair up in a messy bun, which she promptly did. At that point, she felt that the outfit was "artsy" instead of "hooker-like."

"So you have his credit card?" Yusuke inquired, now slightly disturbed at the comment he had made earlier.

"Don't worry about it," Umi answered immediately, glancing around the kitchen. "Has anybody seen my Chucks?"

"You mean the shoes by the back door?" Hiei murmured, gesturing to where Umi had come in a little while ago.

"Right, thanks."

Just as Umi finished tying her shoes, Kurama descended the stairs and entered the kitchen, wearing what the others recognized as the outfit in which he had fought in the Makai Tournament. "Let's go," he announced.

* * *

Hiei didn't say much outside of a few well-timed insults as the quintet walked around the outdoors store. To be honest, he didn't see why they needed any of these provisions; he slept just fine every night in a tree--there was no need for a tent or sleepingbags or flashlights. It seemed like a waste of time.

The height-challenged demon sighed. The next week was going to be a royal pain in his ass. How had he gotten roped into the stupid "bonding exercise," anyway?

_"If you don't," Koenma warned, "your probation may be revoked and we can send you to Spirit Jail."_

Oh, yeah. That. Another sigh escaped his lips. Damn probation; how long could they hold that over his head, anyway? Skulking in the shadowy corner of the building, he happened to overhear Yusuke whining to Kurama.

"What is she doing here, anyway?" he complained. "Now we have to watch what we say and do..."

"Yusuke, she's here to visit me, and I haven't gotten to see her at all," Kurama answered. "Between the Makai Tournament, my training, her training, and her late-night excursions to lord only knows where...we just don't get to see each other much."

Yusuke scoffed. "Seems to me lie she'd rather do anything but see you."

"She's like Hiei, Yusuke; she doesn't open up around people she doesn't know well, that's all."

Yusuke was spared answering by Kuwabara's shouts from the register. "Guys, if you want to get going, I suggest you get your asses up here now."

"Come on Hiei," Kurama prompted. "If we leave now, we can head out tonight."

Hiei almost laughed, and the expression on his face showed it.

"The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back."

Hiei shook his head as he followed the others out of the store. Since Umi had to finish paying the cashier, she wound up being the last one out of the store in front of him. He noted that she was walking at a particularly slow place, even for a human, probably because she seemed preoccupied with her hands. Or rather, the burns on her hands. The fire demon had to think for a moment. Burns? Those hadn't been there earlier, right? A quick mental reading confirmed this. Curious, Hiei continued glancing at her hands. The burn pattern resembled the one that still existed on his right arm--the burn pattern of a demon flame. How did she get in contact with a demon flame?

* * *

And yeah, I know, not particularly exciting, but we haven't gotten to that part yet. Just wait for another couple of chapters and it'll just be riveting.

~LOIT


	2. Chapter 2

It's me again. I know you're excited for chapter 2, so here ya go.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, but I do own the OCs. That's about it.

* * *

"Do you have everything?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Umi."

"Sorry; I just want to make sure nothing bad happens."

Kurama sighed. "I know you're worried, but don't be. They may not look like it, but they're pretty sensible guys. We can all take care of ourselves."

"Alright," Umi conceeded, glancing over her cousin's shoulder at the other three, who were impatiently waiting for their fourth. "Well, I guess I'll see you in a week."

"I have my phone if you really need me," Kurama assured. "Just relax and try not to worry about us, okay? We'll be fine."

"Okay then. Bye guys!" Umi called as Kurama stepped out the door. "Have fun! Watch out for bears!"

"There are bears in the woods?" Kuwabara was heard asking as the door shut. After a few moments, Umi glanced around the house, unsure of what to do with herself.

It was beginning to get dark, so she figured that she should stay inside, just so that somebody was home. Sighing, she sat down in the living room, turned on the lamp, and pulled out a book. Silence predominated the area, and for a few hours, she was content.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard from outside the front door. The unexpected noise nearly gave her a heart attack, but she was more or less back to normal after a moment. Slowly putting her book down, Umi got up and went to the door. Glancing out the peephole, she saw nothing, which struck her as odd, because it definitely sounded like a branch had fallen from the tree in the front yard or something. Confused, and slightly afraid, she returned to the living room and sat down.

Another loud crash sounded; this time it was from the next room over. Heart pounding, Umi got up to inspect its origins. Upon seeing the window broken inward, she shrieked. All of the lights in the house went off for a few moments, then flickered back on.

The strangest thing, though, was that nobody had come into the room. Frozen with fear, she felt lucky to overhear the distinct sounds of a scuffle. It took her a few moments before she regained control of her body and made her way to the window to see who was fighting. Outside, she saw a person dressed in all black tied up on the ground. Next to him was a tall, dark-colored man who seemed to be a few years older than herself. The average-built guy looked up at her and smiled.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," Umi answered, nodding. There was an awkward pause before she added, "Who are you, anyway? Not to be rude, of course."

He laughed. "My name is Jamal. And you are?"

"Umi."

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Well, it was nice of you to stop that guy from breaking into my house."

"Yeah."

There was another awkward pause, which was interrupted by Jamal. "I guess I should take the guy to the police, then."

"I should come with you," Umi offered, earning a grin in return.

* * *

It was cold in the woods. Kurama wished that Yusuke and Kuwabara would hurry up and pitch the tents, and that Hiei would return with the firewood. At least he was sensible enough to wear a coat as he retrieved the water. But then, why would the camp be inhabitable by the time he got back? Nothing else had gone right so far...

_"The camp sight's over here," Yusuke insisted as the group tromped off of the path. "The map says so."_

_"Are you sure?" Kuwabara asked, unsure. "I don't think Koenma would throw us into a place we can't find. We wouldn't be of much use lost."_

_"We've got a map," Yusuke commented, holding it up. As soon as he did, however, a large hawk swooped down, grabbed the map, and flew off. There was a pause._

_"Did that really happen?"_

_Nobody was quite able to answer._

_"Kurama," Hiei growled, "please tell me you've marked our trail?"_

_There was another awkward pause, during which the others had just stared at Kurama._

_"Umm..."_

_"Don't answer if it's something I don't want to hear."_

_No answer was provided._

Kurama sighed. Perhaps things would get better as the trip continued. Picking up the canteens, he returned to the nearby encampment. When he arrived, surprisingly, everything seemed to be in order. The tents were up, and there was a pile of wood for fire. Kurama put the canteens down by the pile of wood and walked up to Yusuke.

"Why don't we have a fire going?" he inquired of the Spirit Detective.

"We can't find the matches," Yusuke informed.

"Why aren't you looking for them, then?"

"Kuwabara is, and I'll just get in the way."

"Okay then..." Kurama turned to where Kuwabara was running around the tents and rummaging through things. Deciding that he didn't even want to mess with Kuwabara's "system," he returned to Yusuke. "Where's Hiei?"

"In that tree," the Spirit Detective answered. "He was sick of Kuwabara's stupidity."

"I see..." Again, Kurama sighed. This was going to be a long week.

* * *

Nothing too exciting yet, but I'm getting there. You'll just have to be patient. Gosh.


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings, and welcome to Chapter 3. I hope everybody had a wonderful winter holiday.

Disclaimer: Still don't own YYH. Other than that, the rest of it's mine.

* * *

Umi sat in the park on the bench, sighing and staring between her two hands. In the right was her cell phone; the left, a piece of scrap paper with a number on it and the words "call me." Had it been long enough? She'd only met Jamal the night before, and it was mid-afternoon now--four by her cell phone. It was probably too early--

"Holy Good God," she gasped as her phone went off in her hand. Ignoring her heart beating out of her chest and a slight gust of wind, she flipped open the phone and said, "Hello, Umi's phone. Please leave your name, number, and a message after the tone--"

_"Umi, I know you're there."_

"Oh, hey Shuichi, how's your trip going?"

_"It's fine; I think they're getting a bit testy, though."_

Umi nodded as she watched a pair of girls walk by. "Yeah, I bet. Is it Yusuke or Kuwabara that's causing more problems?" As she said the boys' names, the brown-haired girl glanced over, tapped the shoulder of her aqua-haired friend, and the two returned their gaze to Umi, who quickly turned her attention elsewhere.

_"It's Kuwabara, like always. He and Hiei just can't seem to get along."_

"Whose bright idea was it for you all to do this, anyway?"

There was a pause. _"Yusuke thought it would be fun."_ Umi could swear she heard Yusuke blatantly denying it in the background, but chose to ignore it; Shuichi lied to her a lot, and he was really bad at it.

"Oh, of course." That had to have been his worst lie yet, but she was going to let him have it. "Sounds like you guys are having lots of fun."

_"What about you? How are things there?"_

She considered telling him about the burglar, but decided against it--to keep him from worrying, naturally. "Everything's fine here. Same ol' same."

_"That's good. I have to go, but I'll call you tomorrow?"_

"If you want."

_"Alright then. Goodbye."_

"Bye." With that, Umi snapped her phone shut and sighed. Her cousin was such a worrier; but then, that was just his feminine side. She snickered. It was sadly true; Shuichi had a terrible habit of doing and saying really girly things. Lost in her amused thoughts, she was shocked when someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Excuse me," the brown-haired girl inquired, almost awkwardly. "I couldn't help but overhear you saying something about Yusuke and Kuwabara. I was--well, we were--wondering if you meant Yusuke Urameshi and Kazuma Kuwabara."

Umi thought for a moment.

"Tall, black hair, green jumpsuit?"

"Bad attitude?" Umi added.

"Yep, that's him. How do you know them?"

"I'm Shuichi's cousin; I just met them the other day," Umi informed. "How do you know them?"

"I'm Yusuke's girlfriend," the brown-haired girl answered. "My name's Keiko. And this is Yukina; she's our friend."

"Do you know where Kazuma and the others are?" Yukina inquired quietly. "We've been looking for them all day."

"Good luck finding them," Umi laughed. "They've gone camping for the week."

"Camping?" the other two repeated, exchanging glances.

"Yeah." There was a long pause, during which Keiko and Yukina exchanged unreadable glances. Finally, Yukina spoke.

"Well, Keiko is going to bring me back to Master Genkai's temple. Would you like to come with us?"

Umi shrugged. "Sure."

* * *

"Kurama! Kurama!"

"What is it, Kuwabara?"

"I can't find the matches!"

"Where did you put them yesterday?"

"In my pocket."

"Did you check there?"

"Oh, here they are."

The fox demon felt like he was going to lose his mind. Kuwabara and Hiei had been fighting all day, Yusuke had certainly been no help (he, in fact, was oftentimes the instigator), and even a visit from Botan hadn't given him respite. This trip was a bad idea. Sensing that another argument was brewing in the background, Kurama grabbed his phone and walked off, in order to avoid being dragged into it. Glancing through his phone's phonebook, he came across his cousin's name and dialed the number.

_"Hello Shuichi,"_ Umi greeted on her end. _"What's up?"_

"I can't take this trip anymore," Kurama groused quietly. "Kuwabara and Hiei have been at each other's throats all day and Yusuke's only making it worse."

_"Tragic. Sorry your trip sucks."_

"It's only five more days," Kurama assured. "Maybe it'll get better."

Umi snorted in disagreement. _"Why don't you just come home early?"_

It wasn't like Kurama could tell her that Koenma, the ruler of the dead (essentially), wouldn't let them because they had to learn to get along in order to better fight off demons, so he was forced to come up with a lie. "I want to stick it out," he decided quickly. "Just to prove I can."

There was a pause, in which Kurama imagined his cousin was rolling her eyes. _"Men. Well, make sure you get enough to eat and sleep and all that."_

Kurama laughed. "I try."

_"Look, can I call you back? I've got to meet somebody..."_

"Yeah, no problem."

_"Just try to survive, alright? You'll be fine."_

"Yeah. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

_"Bye."_ The phone clicked, meaning that she'd hung up. Kurama glanced at the clock on his phone. It was 8:00. He supposed it was never too early for bed. Sighing, he returned to the camp, but he immediately could see that something was wrong.

"Kuwabara, didn't you light the fire?" he inquired.

"I did," Kuwabara growled, "but Hiei knocked the water bottles over onto it, and we're out of matches."

"Don't we have flashlights or something?"

"Yusuke decided that the batteries would be better used for his radio, which is now dead," Hiei snarked. "So now we have no light."

Kurama rubbed his temples. This was hell.

* * *

Umi closed her phone and put it back into her pocket and returned her attention to the door to the temple. Yukina had entered moments ago with Keiko in order to locate somebody called Master Genkai. The name sounded familiar, but she didn't know from where. Glancing about curiously, she began to grow impatient. Where were they?

"So this is the source of all the strange energy I've been feeling."

The sudden statement surprised Umi, causing her to jump a few feet in the air. A slight breeze accompanied her turnaround, and it took her a moment to think to look down, where she saw the person she assumed was Master Genkai.

"Yes Master Genkai," Yukina replied, coming up to the two. "This is Shuichi's cousin." There was a noticeable emphasis on Kurama's human name, but nobody said anything. Instead, Genkai took to looking over the strange girl. There was nothing particularly striking about her, but Genkai felt that the girl had a certain inhuman quality. After scrutinizing her for a while, the master sighed.

"Well, that's the problem."

Simultaneous answers of "Problem?" and "What is it?" from Umi and Yukina, respectively, were heard by Genkai.

"She's an elemental," Genkai murmured, mostly to Yukina. "An untrained one, at that."

Again, her replies were simultaneous. "What the hell are you talking about?" and "How has that happened?" were the two conjoined answers. The master rolled her eyes.

"Her powers must have awakened recently," she explained. "So she probably has no idea as to what we're talking about." With an attempted sympathetic expression, Genkai turned toward the incredibly confused girl. "Has anything strange happened recently?"

"No, I don't think so," Umi answered warily. "What's this about an elemental?"

Genkai ignored the question. "Think hard. Any random blackouts or inexplicable weather patterns?"

"Um, i don't know...I doubt it," Umi responded, even more confused than before. "there was a blackout the other night, but it was really quick..."

Again looking over her, the old woman noticed the bandages on her hands. "What about those?"

Umi shrugged. "I don't really know. I think I was angry about something the other day and sometime later while I was out I noticed that my hands were burnt a little." She shook her head. "I don't see what this has to do with anything."

"When did these strange things begin? Recently?"

"I don't know; I've noticed a few things since Shuichi got back from his trip a month or so ago. Can we go back to the part where you said I was an elemental? I'd like that explained a little, if you think that's appropriate."

"You've got a mouth on you," Genkai murmured. "Not at all like your cousin." Gesturing for the others to follow her, the group went inside the temple and sat around a small table. After Yukina retrieved some tea, the conversation continued.

"If you must know," Genkai commenced, "an elemental is a creature with the ability to control or summon elements. The strange thing with you is that your aura is rather demonic, but you're a human."

"So? Wait, what does that even mean?"

Genkai ignored the second question. "So that means that you've been summoning elements frm the demon plane."

There was a pause. "Demon plane?"

"Where the demons live--you know, you aren't all that bright, either. Mouthy and thick; now you resemble my lazy apprentice more than your cousin."

"Yeah, I can't live up to Shuichi's standards," Umi snarked, rolling her eyes. "What's all this about demons? Aren't they only in myths or whatever?"

"Do you have any idea how long this is going to take if I have to explain the history of demonic activity in the human realm?" Genkai snapped. "What you need to be focused on is learning how to control the elements and your Spirit Energy."

There was a long silence. "I didn't understand a thing you just said," Umi admitted.

Genkai sighed. "This is going to take a while..."

* * *

Stay tuned for Chapter 4!


	4. Chapter 4

Here's chapter 4. It's kind of short, but Chapter 5 is coming and it's ridiculously long. So read and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. That's it.

* * *

It was dark, cold, and exceedingly stressful at the campsite that night. There were no lights, no fire, nor was there dry clothing. Earlier that day, Yusuke thought it would be fun to go for a swim, which was all fine and good until Hiei and Kuwabara's argument led Kuwabara, screaming for his life, to chase after Yusuke, whom he believed would save him from Hiei's wrath. Unfortunately, the Spirit Detective was going to be of no help, so Kuwabara ran to Kurama, who was sitting near the river (since there were few trees by the river, the fox demon figured he'd get better reception on his phone), and knocked the both of them into the water near Yusuke; the resulting splash drenched Yusuke's clothing as well as the pissed-off little fire demon. And, since none of them were to use their powers, and there were no more batteries, and there were no more matches, the boys were left sopping wet in the dark on that evening.

"This sucks," Kuwabara announced, shivering. "It's cold and dark and there's nobody around."

"Like the inside of your head," Hiei retorted.

"Nobody asked you, shrimp!"

"Will you two stop it?" Yusuke snapped. "You're the reason we're in this situation, anyway. If you two could just learn to ignore each other, we wouldn't have this problem."

"The only problem here is that I have to associate with this idiot," Hiei answered angrily, gesturing toward Kuwabara.

"Who're you calling an idiot?" Kuwabara shouted.

"You, idiot."

"You got a problem with me, shorty? Come say it to my face!"

"Hey, both of you! Knock it off!" Yusuke commanded, getting between the two. "Your constant arguing isn't helping anybody!"

"Kuwabara's existence isn't helping anybody," Hiei remarked.

"You certainly ain't no saint," Kuwabara shot back.

"Both of you, shut up!" Yusuke ordered. Exasperated, he turned to Kurama for help. "Any time you want to jump in will be fantastic, really, Kurama."

"I would, but it's a fruitless task," Kurama replied mindlessly, looking at his phone again. It had been two days since he'd heard from his cousin, and it worried him. She always answered her phone.

"Kurama, she isn't going to call. Now get over here and help me keep these two from killing each other."

Sighing, he made a move to get up when his cell phone rang. "I'd love to help, but I've got a call." Grinning, he picked up his phone. "Hello?"

_"Hey Shuichi."_ It was Umi, and she sounded tired. _"Sorry, I misplaced my phone the other day and couldn't find it until just now. So what's up? You called like 50 times."_

"Where are you? You didn't answer the house phone, either."

_"Because I'm out, still."_

"Out? Out where?"

_"I'm at Master Genkai's temple with Yukina and Keiko."_

That was a relief. "What have you been up to that you lost your phone?"

_"Um, well, we went swimming the other day, and I left my phone out by the lake."_

A blatant look of disbelief came to Kurama's face, and it slid into his tone. "Oh, really?"

_"Yeah, really."_

"Umi, you can't swim."

_"I learned."_

"Really?"

_"Yes. Sort of. A little bit."_

"Whatever you say."

_"Don't give me that. Anyway, how's your trip going?"_

"Oh, it's..."

_"So wonderful words can't describe it?"_

"Oh, there are words. Believe me." Kurama sighed. "When are you going home?"

_"I should be home when you get home. Or at least, sometime that day."_ There was a pause. _"Why?"_

"Our campsite is a little bit south of Master Genkai's temple. If we leave early, we can pick you and Keiko up on the way home."

Oddly enough, there was another pause. _"Sure, sounds good,"_ her answer finally came. _"Give me a call before you get here, then."_

"I'll call you tomorrow as well."

_"Yeah, okay then. I'll talk to you tomorrow then."_

"Bye," he managed to add before she hung up. He gave a curious glance to his phone before hanging up and putting his phone away. Then, glancing up, he gave an annoyed look to the others. "What're you looking at?"

"We're just interested in your life, Kurama," Yusuke informed, feigning innocence.

"We're going to Genkai's?" Kuwabara excitedly asked. "I get to see my beloved Yukina again!"

"What are they doing at Genkai's?" Hiei inquired, keeping his tone neutral. He suspected that Kurama hadn't noticed those inexplicable burns on his cousin's hands, and wasn't going to alert him to them unless necessary.

"I don't know; she wouldn't tell me anything." Kurama sighed again. "She's probably mad at me for ditching her again."

"Yeah, I bet she and Keiko are having a grand old time complaining about how we just leave them for long periods of time without real explanations," Yusuke commented. "She'll get over it; Keiko always does."

"I suppose."

* * *

The next day started off well enough. It was bright and sunny, and, by that point, their clothes had dried. Figuring it would get their minds off their predicament, the boys decided to go for a hike. Their romp through nature proved to be relaxing enough.

Relaxation, however, wasn't happening at Genkai's. This was to be Umi's last day of training with the master, and, needless to say, it was intense.

"Come on slacker, get the lead out!" Genkai demanded.

"Dear Lord," Umi gasped, collapsing to her knees. "How is running around trees and climbing up cliff-faces to help me control the elements?"

"By pushing your body to its limits, you begin to get a sense of your Spirit Energy and then can harness it," Genkai explained. "You cannot even begin to tame the elements if you can't control your own energy."

"Somehow I knew this would be more trouble than it's worth," Umi groused.

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it. So get back to work!"

Just as the sun began to set, Umi and Genkai returned to the temple. The younger of the two hardly crawled back to her room before passing out on the floor. It seemed to her that the three hours that passed between her collapse and when her phone went off was really only three minutes, but she groggily picked up the phone anyway.

"Hello?"

_"Hey Umi, it's Shuichi."_

Umi's next statement, though snarky in nature, was indiscernible through her pillow, mumbled as it was.

_"Are you alright? You sound terrible."_

"Sleeping," Umi half-shouted through her pillow.

_"At 9:00 at night?"_

"Yes."

_"Are you sure you're alright--?"_ Kurama's statement was cut short by loud shouts in the background.

_"What happened here?!"_

_"Looks like an animal ransacked the place."_

_"It ate all our food!"_

_"You're worried about food? We have no shelter!"_

_"Great,"_ Kurama sighed. _"No food, no water, no shelter, no fire..."_

Umi managed a "what happened?" before her concerns became incomprehensible.

_"Some animals ransacked our camp."_ It was obvious by his pause that he wasn't pleased. _"Don't worry, though; it's just one night. We'll be fine."_ There was another moment of silence. _"Umi?"_ the only response he got was a snore. _"I suppose I'll call you in the morning, then--"_

"Hold on, Kurama."

Silence. Then: _"Master Genkai, please, it's Shuichi around Umi."_

"She's fast asleep. Listen Kurama, I need to talk to Hiei."

_"Alright, just a moment."_ There was a pause on the other line while the phone was being transferred, followed by a mildly annoyed, _"What?"_

"Don't use that tone of voice with me," Genkai ordered. "I need your assistance."

_"With what?"_

"A student of mine."

_"What about him?"_


	5. Chapter 5

Back again. This is a long chapter to reward you for waiting.

Disclaimer: YYH is not mine. In case you don't know.

* * *

Umi yawned, stretched, and rubbed her eyes. Bright sunlight filtered into the room. "I guess it's morning," she murmured to herself, getting up and walking out of the room. As she walked around the temple, unsure of where she was going, she tried to figure out why she felt so rested. Counting up the hours, she realized that she'd slept for about 16 hours. That was the longest she'd ever slept--

"Umi! You're awake!"

The girl glanced up, and it took her a moment to realize what was going on. Her feet had brought her to the dining room, where Shuichi and his friends, as well as Keiko and Yukina, were sitting.

"Are you going to keep that stupid look on your face or are you going to come sit down with us?" Genkai called, motioning the girl over.

"Grouchy old bat," Umi groused as she took a seat between the master and Hiei. Louder, she turned toward her cousin, intending to inquire about his trip, but instead sputtered out, "What the hell happened to you?"

"Long story," he replied, glancing over himself. He didn't think he looked to terrible--he knew that he'd certainly looked worse. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. "You're mom's going to be so excited to see you, Shuichi," she chided, trying not to laugh as he rolled his eyes.

The others snickered as he replied, "Then we shouldn't keep her waiting. Let's go."

"Yeah, I'm sick of nature," Yusuke commented as he and the others got up from the table. Looking at Genkai, he added, "See ya around, Grandma."

"I hope not, slacker," Genkai commented, sipping her tea.

Kuwabara turned toward Yukina, grabbing her hands, and murmured, "Yukina, my love, I hope to see you soon. I'm so sad that I missed our rendezvous--"

"Let's go, loverboy," Yusuke interrupted, grabbing Kuwabara by the ear and dragging him out of the room by it.

Umi made a motion to get up, but Genkai held her down. Before she could ask what was going on, the master called to Hiei, who was just about to leave. "Hiei, I'd like a word with you."

Shrugging, the fire demon returned to his seat. The three sat in silence until Kurama shut the door behind himself. Finally, Genkai began by getting up and standing in front of the other two. "Hiei, I'd like you to meet my new student that needs your help."

The two exchanged glances. Then--

"You're kidding," Hiei informed. "What could you possibly say she can do that requires my attention, let alone my tutelage?"

Genkai glanced over at the girl for a moment while grinning and saying, "Surely you've seen her hands?"

There was a pronounced pause. "What about them?"

"Doesn't that burn pattern seem familiar to you?"

The fire demon didn't bother glancing over. "It's the same pattern left by my Dragon of the Darkness Flame. So what?"

"She did that without summoning the Dragon," Genkai responded. "Think of what she could do under your care."

As Hiei thought about the destructive power of his friend's cousin, Umi interjected into the conversation. "Hold up, this training thing isn't over? I got my energy under control; what more do you want? I didn't agree to any of this."

"You're a danger to society if you don't completely control your powers," the master retorted sharply. "I admit you're a quick study, but you're certainly no master of anything."

"Well, what happens if Shuichi finds out? Somehow I don't think that would go over well."

"If both of you keep your mouths shut, he won't."

There was another long pause. Both of the two sitting on the floor exchanged unreadable glances. Simultaneously, there was a reply of, "Fine," and then, "I have one question."

Genkai had to force herself not to laugh. "You two are already on the same page already. Go ahead, Umi."

"How's he supposed to train me? You said I was the only confirmed elementalist on either side of the barrier."

"You're the only elementalist," she conceded, "but you two are the only two creatures in recent history with the ability to summon elements from the demon plane, so he's got to train you because nobody else can."

"What does she know already?" Hiei inquired, ending their previous conversation.

"She can control her Spirit Energy, and we've determined which emotions are required to work with each element." Genkai looked over the two to see if there were any more questions. When she deemed that there weren't any, she added, "Now, if that's all, you two need to get going before anyone becomes suspicious."

As the two walked out of the temple, Umi felt a bit relieved. For a while, she thought that she was just a freak. If anybody else had these...powers...she couldn't be that strange, right? She affirmed the thought in her head and nodded while adding an addendum to her decision: she wasn't a freak, but that didn't mean that other people would agree, so nobody else needed to know about it.

"What did Genkai want?" Kurama inquired, genuinely interested.

"Nothing worth your while," Umi responded, giving a look to Hiei that clearly stated that he wasn't to answer, either.

"Alright then..." It was obvious that he didn't believe a word of it, but he wasn't going to push it. "How was your week?" he asked, changing the topic to avoid confrontation.

There was a pause. "Intense," Umi decided. "What about yours? You never answered."

"Let's just say camping is off the list," Kurama answered, accompanied by many snorts of laughter and disgust from the others.

"It couldn't have been that bad," Keiko commented. "You all seem fine."

"Where's all the stuff you brought?" Umi interjected, looking between the four boys. That stuff had been rather pricey...

"A bear ate it all," Yusuke replied. "So now we don't have to carry it home."

"At least it didn't rain," Kuwabara commented.

"But it might before we get home if we don't move quickly," Kurama amended, glancing up at the clouds. "We should pick up our pace."

* * *

The group had been walking in relative silence for a long while and was coming up on the edge of the forest. Hiei had wanted to inquire about the training schedule to Umi, but he knew that she didn't want Kurama to know of her powers for some reason, and having a conversation about them would certainly alert him. (He thought it quite humorous that both of them had abilities that they didn't want the other to know about.) Figuring that he could still communicate with her, he contacted her telepathically.

_Umi._

The girl shrieked and jumped nearly a foot in the air, narrowly dodging a bolt of lightening that had been accompanied by a swift gust of wind.

"Are you alright??" Kurama immediately interrogated. "What is it? What happened?"

"I nearly got hit by a bolt of lightening, that's what!" Umi shrieked in a shrill voice, nearly hyperventilating.

"Can that even happen if it isn't raining?" Kuwabara wondered aloud.

"Well, it did," Yusuke responded with his signature attitude.

"Are you alright?" Keiko repeated, looking concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, just scared shitless," Umi answered, calming down slightly. She gave Hiei a death glare before the hike continued.

_Was that shriek really necessary?_ He asked, amused.

_Well, I've never had a telepathic conversation before and I wasn't expecting it_, Umi defended, crossing her arms in annoyance.

Hiei laughed once. _I don't think it was necessary for you to scream like that._

_Shut up. What do you want, anyway?_

_I need to know when you want to train. You know when Kur--Shuichi will notice your absense._

There was a silence, which was odd to Hiei, considering that they weren't speaking aloud. _Well, I've been going out at night to crash parties, so he's used to me being gone at night. We could train after I'm done partying._

_Or you could stop that nonsense, as it won't destroy the world if you go to a few gatherings of minors drinking alcohol. I'm sure Shuichi would prefer that, anyway._

_What does he care? He's never home, anyway. He's always out with you guys._

Hiei sighed. _You're such a human. Just meet me tomorrow night at the park. We'll begin then._

_If you say so._ Her sarcasm was impossible to hide.

_Don't get smart with me._

* * *

The next day was supposed to be relaxing, or so Kurama had mindlessly assumed. Instead of waking up to the sound of closing doors, he woke up to his cousin jumping around and cheering, followed by the slam of the bathroom door. Confused and tired, he got up and knocked on the door.

"Umi, what was that about?" he yawned.

"I've got a date in a few hours, go away," she answered as she turned on the shower.

Momentarily uncaring, Kurama went downstairs to the kitchen, thinking fondly about sleeping in his own bed. He hardly sat down with a mug of his coffee when the doorbell rang; sighing, he unwillingly answered it and, upon realizing that the person at the door was a police officer, woke up immediately (despite the fact that he was still in his plaid flannel pajamas).

"May I help you?" Kurama inquired politely, cautious of his tone.

"My name is Officer Kitchens," the man introduced formally, holding up a badge. "Is a Miss Umi Minamino at home?"

"What did she do now?" came his immediate response in a worried tone.

"Nothing; we need her testimony from the event last week." The officer's tone remained neutral and professional.

Completely confounded, the demon opened the door and invited the officer into his home. After pouring the man a mug of coffee, he calmly requested an explanation for the "incident."

"Last week," Officer Kitchens reminisced, "an attempted burglary occured at this residence, and a good Samaritan stopped it. He and Umi brought the thief to us, and the thief is pressing charges of assault and battery on this Samaritan." Concluding, he bluntly stated, "Basically, we need her testimony for the trial."

Kurama wasn't sure how to react. Clearly, everything was alright, because nobody thought it necessary to inform him of this incident. It was apparent to him that he would have to have a conversation with his cousin after the officer left. He opened his mouth to continue asking about the incident when the younger Minamino came bounding down the stairs. Her merriment stalled, however, when she saw the police officer at her kitchen table. A moment of awkward silence, she laughed uneasily.

"Officer Kitchens," she greeted slowly, "what are you doing here? I thought the case was closed."

"It was," he concurred, "until charges were pressed against Jamal. We need your testimony in the trial."

"Of course," she instantaneously replied. "When is it?"

"Next month. The date will be on your summons, which you will get within the week." Finished with his business, the officer got up and showed himself to the door without another word.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Kurama turned a combination rage-menace glare toward his cousin. "So everything was fine, was it? How come I didn't hear about this?"

"Because I knew you were going to flip a shit about it, and because nothing happened," she retorted, matching his gaze. Her attention momentarily flicked to the nearby clock, and she added, "Well, I must be finishing up; Jamal will be here soon."

"Who is this guy, anyway?" Kurama shot back after his cousin who had just run up the stairs. "I've never even heard of this character before today!"

"I met him after you left to go camping with your friends. He's the one who saved me from the burglar, remember?"

"What?! You know you can't go out with anyone I haven't met before!"

"What are you, my dad?! Aside, you can meet him at the door!"

"Umi!"

She didn't answer. Naturally. Kurama sighed, flopping down onto the couch in the living room. So far, his day wasn't going well at all. Thinking about how he could go for a vacation (perhaps to the beach, or to a ski resort; something that would get him away from the city--but not the woods...never the woods...never again), the fox demon hardly noticed the doorbell ringing incessantly until his cousin screeched at him from upstairs.

"Shuichi! Get the damn door!"

No sooner had the words escaped her lips than did the front door open. Kurama looked over the 6-foot-something young man of the African persuasion in his doorway. He was lanky and thin, but not scrawny, with long black dreadlocks that nearly covered his dark chocolate eyes. As Kurama gave him the once-over, Jamal kept a strange, uncomfortable glance before asking, "Is Umi home?"

"Oh, sorry," Kurama apologized quickly. Smiling lightly, he opened the door wide and continued, "I assume you must be Jamal. I'm Shuichi, her cousin. She's finishing upstairs; please, come in."

Jamal had hardly stepped into the house when Umi came flying down the stairs again. Her long black hair was curled about her shoulders, and her bangs were clipped out of her brilliant emerald eyes (a Minamino family trait). Kurama thought her tank top was a little too low and her jeans were a bit too tight, but he would just chastise her later about it; no use snapping at her in front of her new boyfriend.

"Where will you guys be going today?" he inquired mildly.

"We're going to see a movie," Umi answered, putting on her heels. "I'll call you later. Bye Shuichi!" With that, the door slammed shut.

Again, Kurama sighed. Today was going to be hell.

* * *

The sun was beginning to set when Umi and Jamal left the movie theater. Since Jamal was an employee there part-time, they got free tickets to three differnet flicks, all of which had been incredibly action-packed; because of the overload of adrenalin and explosions, the two were quite excitable as they left.

"That was so awesome!" Umi exclaimed, jumping up and down. "I haven't seen that much unnecessary violence since I watched Judge Dredd and The Demolition Man back-to-back!"

"Yeah," Jamal agreed merrily. "Stallone's movies are all like that. That's why I love them so much--'cause it certainly ain't for his natural fluency at language."

The girl laughed, but was cut off by her cell phone's alarm, as it shrieked at her in that moment. After glaring at it for a moment, she realized that it was getting dark, and gasped loudly. "Oh good God! I'm late!"

"Late for what?"

"I told a friend I'd meet him before it got dark." She bounced from one foot to the other in anxiety. Her voice came out almost in song as she continued speaking. "He's gonna kill me!"

Jamal laughed, placing both hands on her shoulders to get to stop. "Go ahead; I'll call you tomorrow."

"Thanks so much!" Umi gave him a quick hug before sprinting off toward the park. Hiei was going to murder her if she was late. Perchance he would let her tardiness slide because it was the first night...hopefully...

Upon arriving at the park, another realization smacked her in the face as she ran around the empty recreational area: she didn't know where Hiei was. Muttering obscenities to herself, she ran around the park again, hoping to see him somewhere. Of course, she didn't, and collapsed to a bench after her umpteenth lap around the park. Groaning as she lay on the bench, her eyes closed in order for her to think a bit straightly. Of course, that was difficult due to the immense pain shooting up her central nervous system from her feet; the elemental desperately wished that she'd taken off her heels before running all over the city instead of afterward, when she'd given up hope of finding Hiei, like she was doing now.

"Dear God, I'm such a..." Umi struggled to find an appropriate noun to describe how stupid she felt.

"Fool?" Laughter, toned between amusement and mockery, finished the sentence. The laughter was answered by a shriek and an exploding light bulb in the nearest streetlamp. "Must you always shriek every time I talk to you? This training won't go well if you're always screeching like that."

"Can't you just address me like a normal person instead of constantly finding new ways to scare the living hell out of me?" she snapped back, glaring as her tutor jumped out of the nearest tree. Intensifying her glare, she added, "And how long have you been sitting in that tree laughing at me?"

"The whole time," the fire demon answered mildly, laughter still ringing in his tone as a sign that he was amused by her neurotic personality. Taking a more authoritative tone, he began, "since we need to train in secrecy, I've located a place where nobody will find us. Come."

Umi simply gave him a look. "You think I'm going to move after you just watched me run around the block like an ass for half an hour? You are sadly mistaken, _mon frer_."

Hiei rolled his eyes. "There's no time for t his." Tossing the elemental over his shoulder, he ran off through the city. The words "holey fuck" had hardly escaped the lips of his passanger before the two arrived at an abandoned warehouse.

"You can't be human," Umi decided, flabbergasted. "Nobody can run that fast. Nobody. Ever."

"Focus, girl," he commanded, dropping her on the floor and sitting in front of her. "We've work to do." When the girl finally sat up, he continued in his didactic tone. "What do you know about the elements?"

There was a pause. "Um, nothing, I guess."

The demon stared her for a few moments, incomprehensibly. "Are you sure you're related to Shuichi?" Umi glared. "Oh, I see it now, never mind." At her now-confused glance, Hiei shook his head. "I digress. There are six elements: fire, water, electricity, earth, wind, and metal." As he listed, he held up a finger for each element--three per hand. "Based on their natural tendencies, these elements are divided into two groups: destructive--" he held up one hand "--that's fire, water, and electricity; and defensive--" he held up the other hand "--that's earth, wind, and metal. Remember, the divisions are based on their natural tendencies, but any element can be used for defense or destruction; it all depends on the user.

"There is a chain of weakness among the elements. Fire is weak against water; water is weak against electricity; electricity is weak against earth; earth is weak against wind; wind is weak against metal; and metal is weak against fire. This chain is most often used for defensive purposes, but obviously, destructive purposes can be derived as well."

"Hold up," Umi interrupted impatiently. "Wouldn't this only be an issue if I was going to fight somebody? There aren't any elementals in the Human World, and I sure as hell ain't goin' to the Demon Realm, so why does this matter?"

Hiei glared. "You never know what'll cross the barrier, so it isn't a waste to be prepared." Umi blinked at him. "Just know that, okay?" She nodded. "Good. Now tell me, can you summon or manipulate elements at will?"

"Nope."

"Then tell me what emotions I need to evoke in you to get which elements I desire."

The girl thought for a fraction of a second. "Fire requires rage; water, panic or deviousness; earth, depression; metal, pain (mental or physical, either one); wind, surprise; and electricity--"

"Fear," Hiei finished, nodding. "I think we can work with this."

"...Work how?"

"The first thing we have to do is teach you to transfer your emotions to your spirit Energy so that you can manipulate the elements without getting riled up."

"How're we gonna do that?"


	6. Chapter 6

Greetings all. Welcome back to the long and wonderful world of initiating action! YAY ENGLISH CLASS!

Disclaimer: Still don't own YYH, but I do own everything else.

* * *

Umi was exhausted. Nowadays, she always was. It wasn't just the fact that she was getting about 14 hours of sleep per week, it was also her cousin harping on her about staying out all night with "strange boys at strange places" without supervision, and it was her intensive training with Hiei. Admittedly, it was working--she hadn't busted any more light bulbs as of late--but it was still wearing her out. She thought Hiei had noticed it, but most of the time he seemed uncaring or mocking (usually both). It was starting to get to her, physically and emotionally. Especially physically.

"Come on, get up," Kurama groused for the fifth or sixth time that morning as he walked into his cousin's room. Stepping over assorted clothing articles, notebooks, shoes, electronics, and heavy, titleless volumes, he managed to get over to her bed, and, shaking her gently, added, "You'll be late for the trial if you don't get up and ready yourself."

She made an indescribably groaning noise as she rolled over to get up. Stretching once, she nearly collapsed after attempting to get up the first time. On her second attempt, she had woken up considerably and walked into the bathroom without a word.

Kurama sighed. "When you get back," he called, "you're going right back to bed; you're not going out tonight, you hear?" The loud blasting of some American band was his answer--and it was a blatant no. Of course. Obviously, he wasn't going to get much out of her in this lethargic state. Assuming he might be able to engage her in conversation after her shower, he sat down on the edge of her bed.

Curious as to what all the things on her floor were, Kurama grabbed the thing nearest his foot. It happened to be a large book, and it had managed to catch his eye by the strange symbols that had been engraved on the cover and once had been a blood-red color. He found no title on the hardback cover as he turned it over in his hands. Like the symbols, the title had been worn away with age. Intrigued, he opened the volume.

_The Encyclopedia of Demonology_

"Cicra 1611," the fox demon murmured, carefully turning the fragile, yellow page. What would his cousin be doing with something like this? Turning a few pages, he marveled at the accuracy of the ancient volume, and began to wonder if he would be in it anywhere.

_The fire demon, also known as the "daemonis incendi,"is one of the six demons who serve the master elemental, _daemonis robus_. Its control of the flame element show its naturally destructive nature and fussy temperament--these demons are known as much for their flaming fields as their hot heads. The images of these creatures in artwork show the common belief that these are Satan's minions in the Dantean Hell of fire and brimstone. They are the least common demon to walk among men (among the elemental class), and the few that do are weaker, less persuasive ones whose sole purpose is to wreak havoc in hopes that their destruction will lead to despair and the deadly sin of Sloth. On the hierarchy, these daemonis incendi rank below other elementals, but certainly above the pugna beasts, including the ogre or cyclops._

Perhaps only some of the information was accurate. He carefully closed the book, placing it on the floor from where he'd originally obtained it. Demonology was an odd choice of literature for his cousin. A thought hit him. What if she thought--or heaven forbid, realized--what he was? Unfortunately, the thought was erased when the doorbell rang.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Kurama muttered mostly to himself, scurrying down the stairs. Upon arriving at the door, he opened it, allowing his visitor to enter.

"I came a little bit early, Shuichi," Jamal announced as he stepped out of his shoes. "I figured it would encourage Umi to move faster--she'll think she's running late. I hope you don't mind."

Kurama nodded. "It's fine; come on in. I'm making tea, would you like some?"

"Sure."

* * *

Jamal laughed loudly. "That's hilarious!"

"It wasn't at the time," Kurama asserted, chuckling, "but hindsight certainly seems to make it so."

"That's like this time my boy Shuzo and I--" Jamal's sentence was cut off by 2 things happening simultaneously. Firstly, the doorbell rang; secondly, the tea kettle whistled from the kitchen. "I'll get the door," he offered as the two got up.

Upon arriving at the door, he opened it and, for a moment, didn't see anybody. It took him a moment to think to look down, and, when he did, he wound up sharing a look of complete confusion with a spiky-haired stranger. "Um, can I help you?"

"Is...Shuichi here?" he murmured, having to pause before the name and glancing inside.

"...Yeah..." Jamal turned toward the kitchen, from where Kurama poked his head to see who was there.

"Oh, Hiei," he greeted, somewhat surprised. "Come on in. I'm making tea, would you like some?"

Hiei shook his head as he entered. A few moments later, the three were sitting in the living room: Jamal in the overstuffed chair, Kurama and Hiei on opposite ends of the couch.

"Hiei, what brings you here?" the fox demon inquired, sipping his tea.

"I was wondering if you could give me some advice," Hiei replied in a swift and quiet manner. He didn't elaborate, and it was obvious as to why. Luckily, Jamal was spared having to make up an excuse to leave the room by the entrance of a fourth.

"My God, how long have you been waiting for me to get ready?" Umi half-shrieked upon seeing her boyfriend. "Why didn't you come get me? I would've moved faster if I'd known you were waiting--are we late? We can't be late to--"

"Umi, relax," Jamal laughed, getting up. "We've got enough time to get there if we leave now."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"

"Umi, you're to be home as soon as the trial ends!" Kurama called as she slammed the door shut behind her. Doubting that she'd heard him, he sighed and returned to Hiei. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Hiei seemed uncomfortable, and he was. For the past week, he'd been unable to get Umi to respond in any sort of positive way to his prompting, and, had, in fact, snapped at him and was closing in on violence during their last training session. Not only did he not want to tell Kurama what his cousin was, but he was most ashamed that he had to ask for help. Finally, he spoke up. "Well, there's this girl--"

"Kurama! Hey! Kurama! Open the door!"

"Oh dear lord," Kurama gasped, jumping to his feet and running to the door.

"Hey, fox-boy," Yusuke greeted upon the door opening. "What's up--?"

"Yusuke! You know you can't just go around shouting my name like that!" Kurama chastised. "You know that--"

"Oh, lighten up; I know nobody else is home," Yusuke interrupted as he and Kuwabara entered. "I just saw your cousin down the road yelling at some black kid."

"That's her boyfriend," the demon informed, shutting the door and returning to the living room.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Go figure." As he sat down next to Kuwabara, he noticed Hiei in the chair next to him. "Hey, it's Hiei. Looks like the gang's all here."

"Unfortunately," Hiei grumbled."

"What's your problem, shorty?" Kuwabara growled, glaring.

"Hiei's just testy because he's been trying to ask me something for the last half hour and I keep getting distracted," Kurama answered.

"Hiei's asking for advice? I didn't know Hiei was capable of hiding his oversized ego in order to do such a thing."

Ignoring Kuwabara's comment, the fox demon (and the other two in the room) turned his attention to Hiei. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"Nothing," the fire demon answered curtly. With Yusuke and Kuwabara around, the conversation would surely sail into dangerous waters.

"You said something about a girl--"

"Hold on," Yusuke interrupted. "Hiei's got a girlfriend?"

"No," he snapped.

"Aw, Hiei's got a crush on a little human girl," Kuwabara teased as he and Yusuke laughed. "Who'd have thought the great demon Hiei would ever love a human--?"

"That's not the situation at all," Hiei snarled. His response only gartered more laughter. Enraged, Hiei clammed up and refused to speak.

"Come now, guys," Kurama chided, "don't make fun of him."

"I think it's adorable," Yusuke snickered. "I mean, really, who'd have thought--?"

"That's enough," Kurama reiterated, a bit harshly that time.

"Alright, alright, geeze. You guys are way too uptight today; what's up?"

"It's a long story."

"We've got time," Kuwabara informed, pouring himself some tea. "Let's hear it."

* * *

"Man, and I thought my life sucked," Yusuke commented. "But all I have to put up with is Keiko; I guess being related to the problem makes it a lot more difficult."

"Yeah, that must suck," Kuwabara agreed. "I wouldn't--" His statement was cut off by a loud knock at the front door.

"Now who the heck is that?" Yusuke wondered aloud. He had a look to say he already knew.

"It's a valid question," Kurama murmured in reply. "Umi shouldn't be home for another couple of hours." He got up to answer the door, but found that he didn't need to. The people had let themselves in.

"Lord Koenma, you can't just burst into somebody's home!" Botan exclaimed. "It's illegal!"

"Oh, relax," the teenage Koenma replied. "It's only Kurama; he doesn't care."

"What are you doing here, pacifier-breath?" Yusuke groaned. "I'm on vacation."

"Is that any way to greet the ruler of the Spirit World?" Koenma snapped. "Besides, I come with a very important mission."

"Let me guess: I've got to stick my neck out for some ungrateful creature, nearly get killed, and be rewarded by a bitch-slap from Keiko?"

"You'd better watch your tone toward Lord Koenma and do as he says," Botan warned, giving him a look.

"I doubt highly that you'll run into any demons that you couldn't take care of, anyway," Koenma continued. "Nobody knows about the creature you're looking for. Yet."

"We're looking for a creature? What kind of creature?" Kuwabara immediately questioned. The others took a quick reaction as eagerness, but Hiei regarded it as a sign that Kuwabara knew about Umi, realizing that Yukina must have told him.

"Thank you for showing an interest, Kuwabara," Koenma replied while glaring at Yusuke. "Spirit World Intelligence has confirmed that there is an elemental in the Human Realm. We don't know who he or she is, what he or she looks like, or how much he or she knows about his or her powers. Despite all of this, we know two things: he or she is a human, and he or she could be in serious danger if any in the Demon Realm were to find out about him or her."

"A human elemental?" Kurama repeated, shocked. "There hasn't been a confirmed elemental in centuries. Are you sure it's an elemental and not a fract?"

"We're positive," Botan answered. "It had a demonic aura, but it was clearly a human. Besides, there never have been any confirmed human fracts."

"What are you people talking about?" Yusuke finally interrupted. "What the hell's a fract, or an elemental, or any of this stuff?!"

"An elemental is exactly what it sounds," Koenma replied. "It's a creature with the ability to summon and control the elements. On the other hand, I don't quite know what a fract is..." At this last statement, he turned (as did everybody else) his attention toward Kurama.

Kurama flushed red for a moment, realizing the term he had used. "A 'fract' is a derogatory term among the demon classes that denotes a creature who can either summon or control a single element." He glanced at Hiei for a moment, quickly returning his attention to the others as he continued. "The term comes from their technical name, _daemonis robus fractus_, which translates in the vernacular as 'broken element.'"

"Why are they called broken elements?" Kuwabara asked. "They seem to work fine to me..."

"It comes from a popular legend that says that, long ago, there was a powerful elemental who couldn't be defeated until one day, a crafty demon realized that the elemental's strength came from his control of all elements; knowing this, he broke the elemental into his six different incarnations and was able to defeat him that way. It is said that all fracts descend from the broken pieces of the elemental--but of course, that's all just myth," Kurama ended quickly, realizing that he kept using the word fract.

"Do we know any fracts?" Yusuke questioned (rather stupidly), earning a particularly enraged glance from the fire demon sitting in the chair next to him.

"Well, Jin is one, as is Touya...oh, and Hiei's a fract too," Kurama added, trying not to laugh at the particularly pissed glance on Hiei's face.

The fire demon was hardly able to manage a "shut up, Kurama," before Koenma interrupted.

"Can I continue?!" At the blank stares he received following his shriek, the ruler of the Spirit World coughed before moving on. "Your job is to find this elemental human and bring him or her to me as soon as possible; the longer this human is left susceptible to attacks or influence by demons who cross the barrier, the more trouble there'll be."

"How bad would it be if one got a hold of it?" Yusuke snarked.

"They could harness his or her power to pursue their own agenda, whatever that may be," Koenma answered, pensively. "We don't know how strong this elemental is, but it could very easily have powers that make Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame look like a candle." There was a pause during which the others kept a particularly shocked look on their faces, which Koenma ignored blatantly. "Of course, the biggest crime would be the abuse of a human, which would be enough to make me send you after them, anyway..."

"Alright, alright, we'll do it, yeesh--" Another knock at the door interrupted Yusuke's ranting. After an awkward pause, Kurama called, "Come in."

"It's locked, you son of a bitch," the voice behind the door snarled, followed by a second one hushing the first in a chiding manner.

"Don't you have a key, Umi?" the fox demon sighed as he got up.

"She left it in her other pants," the second voice, Jamal's, announced.

Seemingly bothered by the carelessnes, Kurama answered the door, allowing Umi to walk in, kick off her shoes, and storm up the stairs wordlessly. Jamal, however, stood at the door with a look lost somewhere between worry and confusion.

"She's just tired," Kurama explained reassuringly. "How'd the trial go?"

"I was acquitted; the jury thought the plaintiff was an idiot for trying to sue me."

"Congratulations. I'm glad that went well."

Jamal nodded. "Me too. I'll stop by tomorrow to see if she's doing alright."

"That's fine. Thank you for bringing her home."

"Not a problem." With that, he walked off and Kurama shut the door.

"Wow Kurama; you're really popular today," Yusuke joked.

Kurama glared as he picked up his cousin's shoes and put them by the front door. "What did I tell you earlier?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting."

"Why don't you just tell her?" Kuwabara suggested. "It'd make things a lot easier."

The demon just shook his head. "I can't. It's just--oh, never mind; you wouldn't understand. It's just better this way."

"But--"

"I suggest," Koenma began, getting up, "that you get started on this right away, and focus on Kurama's personal life afterwards."

"What are we going to do?" Yusuke half-shouted in annoyance. "Fan out and scan the city? That'll be productive."

"We could go to Genkai's," Hiei suggested quietly. "She may know something.

Silence followed his statement. Everybody was immediately suspicious of him. "What makes you say that?" Botan tried furtively.

"Because, you stupid girl, think about it. You're a human who has gone through your entire life with nothing particularly outlandish happening until recently, where you've seemed to develop some magical properties. Traditional science can't help you, and nobody believes you have a problem. Where would you go? A master psychic. The only one anywhere near here is Genkai."

Suspicion and logic mingled on the faces of the others. Finally, Kurama spoke. "He's right. We should leave immediately."

"What about your cousin?" Kuwabara interjected. "We can't just leave her here..."

"Then we'll take her," Yusuke responded before Kurama could. "She can hang out with Yukina while we interview the old hag."


	7. Chapter 7

Hooray for you, the readership! :D Shiny new chapter, all around! Go nuts!

Disclaimer: Still don't own YYH, but everything else is mine.

* * *

"I hate when Shuichi promises we'll spend time together and then I wind up getting shunted to the side," Umi groused, leaning against the nearby tree. "It's unfair. What could he possibly be doing that he doesn't want me to know about?"

Yukina shrugged. "I'm not sure; Kazuma does that a lot too. I guess they just want to keep their affairs private."

Umi didn't seem so sure. "If you say so..."

The ice apparition glanced toward the temple wherein the others were chatting. Realizing that she should change the conversation before her friend got any bad ideas, she blurted out, "So, how's your training going?"

Umi shrugged. "Well enough. I've got a pretty good grasp of what I'm supposed to be able to do, and Hiei says I'm a quick study. I don't know what he's talking about most of the time--stuff about demons or whatever, who knows--but I guess--OH!" She interrupted herself in excitement, glancing back toward the temple momentarily. Turning back to Yukina, she grinned and held her hand out, palm-up. "Want to see something cool?" The ice apparition affirmed, and she murmured, "Hiei doesn't know I can do this yet," before going silent. Although Yukina was keen to Spirit Energy, she could hardly feel that Umi's energy was amassing, changing, and only saw the end result. It started as a small flame, but morphed into a humanoid figure, devoid of features; its form clearly pleased Yukina, and her reaction prompted Umi's continuation in manipulation of her Spirit Energy. The flame creature began to move around her hand in fluid motions, dancing to inaudible music.

Yukina giggled in delight. "Doesn't it need a partner?"

"Good point," Umi concurred, summoning another creature. This one was of water, and was shaped into a feminine form. The pale blue of the water humanoid stood out against the red-orange of the fire creature, causing the two girls to grin jubilantly in response.

"That's so adorable," Yukina squealed in delight.

"Yeah, I--" Umi was cut off when the temple door flew open. Immediately, she lost concentration and the figures disappeared, just missing the others as they exited the building.

"I'll be right out," the one called Koenma announced. "Genkai has something she wants to talk to me about quickly."

"Yeah, whatever you say, pacifier-breath." Yusuke's comment was hardly heard before Kurama and Botan simultaneously shouted at him.

Before Umi could hear anything else from their conversation, Kuwabara came running over to Yukina. "Oh, Yukina, my love," he began, grasping her hands in his, "I'm so glad to see that you're alright."

Yukina snickered as Umi pretended to gag. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"We all felt a strange aura a moment ago, and I was worried that you would be hurt."

"I'm fine, Kazuma," she assured. "It was just Umi."

Kuwabara gave the girl an incredulous look before returning his attention to Yukina. "That was her? No way."

The ice apparition nodded. "It's true. Show him, Umi."

The human girl gave Yukina an unreadable glance. "You told him...?"

Yukina gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I forgot you didn't want anybody to know, but Kazuma wouldn't tell a soul--"

"No, it's fine," Umi answered. "I mean, he hasn't told anybody yet, so I guess he's trustworthy."

As their conversation continued, Koenma exited from the temple, exhasperated. Botan had hardly a chance to ask what was wrong before the Lord of the Underworld groaned in annoyance.

"She knows who it is," he explained, irritated, "but she won't tell me. Apparently there are 5 people who know who it is (outside of the elemental itself): three people were present when Genkai discovered who it was, one was told by one of those present but will never confess, and the last one if the elemental's guardian, and will maintain secrecy as well. She said not to bother trying to prey information out of them because the elemental wants to keep a low profile. Genkai also said that I would approve of whoever she has appointed guardian, so the elemental is safe from harm."

"So basically I don't have to do anything?" Yusuke eagerly inquired.

"You all have to be on the lookout for strange demonic activity," Koenma shot back. "Just in case. Now get back to the city to keep lookout."

As soon as Koenma finished his sentence, Yusuke waved Kuwabara over as a signal that it was time or the group to leave. For once, Kuwabara refrained from making a scene of leaving Yukina, as he was excited to hear what Genkai had said; unfortunately, nobody told him anything at that point, because Umi walked up behind him. Both of them opened their mouths to say something, but were interrupted by Kurama, who wanted to keep Kuwabara from revealing anything or saying something stupid.

"We've got to leave now if we're to make it home before nightfall," he informed, giving Kuwabara a look that clearly said he best keep his mouth shut. And for once, Kuwabara was wise and kept his mouth shut.

* * *

Only three days passed since the unenlightening trip to Genkai's, and it was just a typical morning at the Minamino household. Yusuke and Kuwabara had come over at about eleven, shortly following Hiei, in order to discuss their mission. Of course, things had been difficult for them because Umi refused to leave the house.

"Are you sure she can't hear us?" Kuwabara asked for the umpteenth time, glancing over at Umi, who was sitting in the next room over.

Kurama nodded. "She's got her music turned up so loud she can't hear a thing." He imagined that Hiei laughed once, but he may have been making that up. Just as he opened his mouth to continue, the front door flew open and Botan ran in.

"Oh, Yusuke, I'm so glad you're here!" she shrieked. "We've got terrible news! There's been some horrible accident--"

"Botan, Botan, calm down," the Spirit Detective commanded, putting his hands forcibly on her shoulders. "Now, slow down and tell me what you have to say."

Breathing deeply, the Spirit Guide nodded. "There's been a prison break at Spirit World Jail," she informed frantically. "We've managed to round up most of them, but a number of them escaped into the Human World."

"Aw, great," Yusuke groaned, flopping down onto the couch. "Now I've got to get them before they get the elemental, right?"

Botan nodded, adding gravely, "But these aren't your run-of-the-mill demons; they're a group of powerful _fracts_ called Gentis de Fractae. We're certain that they'll spirit our elemental away and do something horrible to him or her."

"What're they gonna do to it?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'm not sure," the blue-haired girl admitted. "There's a legend that the _fracts_ may regain their so-called lost elements with the assistance of a true elemental, but we don't know how."

A thought hit Kurama at that moment. "I know where we can find out," he announced, turning toward the kitchen. Shouting louder than the others had ever heard before, he hollered, "Umi! Come here!"

There was a pause before Umi poked her scowl from behind the wall, holding one of her earbuds a few centimeters from her head. No words came from her downturned lips, but a great deal of loathing shot from her emerald irises.

"May I borrow your encyclopedia of magical creatures, folklore, and myth?"

Umi blinked, shook her head, and disappeared behind the wall. A few tense moments passed before she returned with an ancient volume, carefully caressed between her thin hands. She handed it to her cousin, with an expression that showed how difficult it was not to laugh.

"Now, let's see..." The fox demon had hardly opened to the index before realizing that he couldn't read it. "Umi, it's in Latin," he informed, torn between annoyance and recognition. Her only response was a superior glance. "You didn't intend on being of any assistance, did you?" Her grin widened noticeably. "Come on, please?" there was a pause. Kurama, Yusuke, and Botan were none the wiser, but Kuwabara could guess by the look on the girl's face that Hiei was telepathically coercing her to assist, and she wasn't pleased about it.

"What're you looking for?" she finally groused, taking back her book.

"Something called the Gentis de Fractae," Kurama answered, gracious.

As Umi flipped through the pages, the others were silent. The only sound in the room was the crunching of the stale, fragile pages as they turned.

"'The Gentis de Fractae, or "Clan of the Broken,"'" she translated emphatically, "'are a group of _daemon fractus_, or "broken demon," with each member having control over a different element. They are a cult society which operates under the quasi-religious belief that they can obtain their missing elements by a barbaric ritual offering of a true elemental to their pagan deity, Chernobog. The sacrifice begins with the cleansing of the victim in blood from each of the cult's members, followed by a brutal combination of mutilation, torture, and rape. The elemental is gutted at sunset, and the demons bathe in his blood, drinking in as much as they can. Their belief states that they will regain their lost powers after the third day following the sacrifice and consumption of the elemental.'"

"Oh my," Botan gasped. "That's brutal."

"That's crazy," Yusuke remarked, aghast. "What sort of twisted weirdo would think that up?"

Umi shrugged, shutting the book. "It's a Roman copy of an Ainu legend; take that as you will."

"Thank you, Umi," Kurama stated, using a tone that made it obvious that she was dismissed. The bothered girl left the room, grumbling to herself and turning her music on again. "So we have to find this elemental swiftly, before it gets sacrificed."

"Those demons certainly don't need their sentences lengthened," Botan agreed. "They'll never get out of jail if they kill a human."

"So," Yusuke began, "What's the plan?"


	8. Chapter 8

Huzzah for a new chapter! :D Short, but chock-full of that epic fighting that we all love. New, longer, possibly as epic chapter coming soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. All else I do.

* * *

"No I will not tell you who it is," Genkai snapped for the fifth or sixth time since her unexpected guests arrived. "It's too risky."

"Don't you understand?" Yusuke retorted, groaning. "It's in serious danger of torture and mutilation! We have to find it and take it to a safe place."

"Dumbass! If you take it to a 'safe place,' they'll know where it is!"

"But they won't be able to break in and kill it," Kuwabara surmised. "So it doesn't matter if they know where sh--it is."

"Kuwabara, they just broke out of Spirit World Jail," Kurama replied pensively. "They'll be able to break into anything we've got."

"Exactly," Genkai agreed. "Now, if you don't have anything better to do, get away from me and go do your job."

"Come on, you old hag; can't we have a hint?" Yusuke begged. "I don't want to search the city for a single person who we know nothing about!"

"Absolutely not!" The master inhaled, wanting to continue, but stopped suddenly. A subtle darkness had taken over the sky, and a flash of lightening introduced two new figures to the already-amassed group.

The first was an inhuman creature with a kappa-like quality about it. Its slick skin was a splotchy conglomeration of muddy brown and mauve shades; the pattern continued through its webbed fingers and toes, as well as along the dorsal fin ridge which flowed from the base of its neck to the tip of its long, serpentine tail. The bipedal thing was a couple of inches shorter than Yusuke, even with the extra boost it got from the prominent fin ridge on the top of its head. Without the neon blue eyes, the scrawny bipede's anglerfish face--enormous fang engrossed jaws and all--was horrifying enough; with them, it was a terrifying nightmare.

On this creature's right was a floating, semi-transparent humanoid. He had no legs, but, instead, a lengthy, wispy tail which engulfed him from the waist down, coloring that half of him a great many shades lighter than the sandy skin which defined his upper, muscular self. The gold, swirly, spiraling embossment on his wine-colored half-vest stood out in contrast to the pitch-black hair which barely was able to grace it, but seemed dark in comparison to the nearly pigmentless eyes which defined his face. His firm expression turned to a hellish glare with the assistance of those pale lemon irises.

A profound silence passed over the group, accented by a soft wind, thick with moisture. There was no power display, no stare-down; simply a tense silence. Finally, the humanoid spoke.

"I am Enlil, Lord of the Winds," he announced in a booming voice, uncrossing his arms. Although he had spoken quietly, his voice certainly resounded with menace. "Ur and I are here for the elemental. Surrender it immediately and we will forgo retribution; if you do not cooperate, we will be forced to release our wrath."

"What's a genie want with an elemental?" Kuwabara wondered aloud. His statement was overpowered by Yusuke's, "You mean you don't know who it is?"

"No," the piscine creature rasped, annoyed. "But we can sense that it's here. Now hand it over and there won't be any problems."

Both Kurama and Yusuke looked shocked, and the latter began to look around for the elemental, as though expecting it to jump out and announce its presence. Hiei and Kuwabara, however, instantly became worried, not noticing when Genkai slipped away. The former laughed before boasting.

"You really think, if we had such a powerful creature, that we'd just hand it over to you?" he snarked, chortling in mockery for effect. "Aside, do you really think you can defeat me?"

The two demons laughed. "We know we can defeat you," Ur answered, condescendingly. "We didn't expect we would have to waste our time, but I suppose we'll have to."

With that, the dense, watery air that had amassed developed into a dense mist, obscuring the fracts from sight. The four went on the defensive, getting into their fighting stances. Silence again prevailed, until the echoing slosh of Ur's webbed feet hitting the wet pavement as he ran pierced the mist, allowing for him to be tracked. Moments before he attacked, however, something came over Yusuke.

The Spirit Detective began coughing and hacking violently and instantly wrapped his hands around his neck. His eyes began to bulge, and his skin turned progressively deeper shades of blue. Nobody could see what was strangling him, allowing nobody to help; they could only flick their eyes around in a fruitless attempt to locate Enlil. Since they couldn't locate him, and were so focused on that minor task, nobody was prepared for Ur's delayed attack.

The kappa creature lunged out from the mist, its slimy hands wrapping around Hiei's upper right arm, whirling him around to be sloshed in the face with one of Ur's water fists; the fire demon, however, caught the punch with his left hand, twisted his arm, and knocked him to the ground. Hiei quickly unsheathed his sword and stabbed at the point where Ur had fallen; it only pierced a puddle of water--the creature had escaped in the liquid that surrounded his feet.

Meanwhile, Yusuke finally collapsed to the floor--unconscious, but still breathing--and the djinn had moved stealthily onto his next target. Luckily for Kurama, the very little light which was visible in the fog hit the translucent creature just right, showing the fox demon his exact position. In reaction, he whipped out his rose whip, cracking it at the image of the air fract. He watched as it sliced through him, neatly cutting him in half.

Or so he thought. The whip fell lifelessly to the pavement; seeing his chance, the creature rushed at him, unscathed, and landed a very solid punch to Kurama's face, knocking him back a few feet. Another flurry of punches came quickly at the spirit fox's head, all of which were blocked, except one, which forced him to the ground. Before the djinn could land another solid hit, Kurama pumped his Spirit Energy into a few seeds, growing them into a plant blade, and shoved it into what was supposed to be Enlil's chest cavity.

Hiei glanced over at Kurama, realizing that they were both suffering from the same problem. "Why can't we hit them?" he snarled, frustrated and enraged.

Enlil chortled in a derisive manner. "I'm surprised you don't know, Hiei. You cannot defeat us because we are your elemental weaknesses. All _daemon fractus_ know that one cannot harm anything of their weakness." With that, and an accompanying malicious grin on his face, he pulled out a curved blade from his sash.

At that moment, Kuwabara went running full-force at the djinn, summoning his Spirit Sword as he ran. He slashed violently, but in vain; Enlil became a transparent puff of smoke before their very eyes, and resolidified when Kuwabara paused to catch his breath; he hurled a well-placed punch which hit the human squarely in the gut. He doubled over in pain, hacking violently. When the air creature looked past the gasping human on the ground, he caught sight of a small human girl peering around the side wall of the temple, her jade eyes wide in terror.

Curious, Enlil stabbed his sword through Kurama's foot, causing him to scream out in agony. Thunder boomed as the girl's eyes widened unimaginably. The djinn grinned, glancing back at Ur momentarily before returning his attention to the gasping fox demon, who had summoned a small vine to pull the sword from his foot. Enlil certainly wasn't going to let that happen, solidifying himself completely (including his two legs which usually welded to create that wispy tail). Then, malevolently, he kicked Kurama as hard as he could in the head, knocking him out and forcing him to cough up blood. The resulting flash of lightening only served to cause the fracts to laugh cruelly. They had found their elemental.

Hiei had to think fast. He couldn't defeat Ur alone, even if he could defeat Enlil. A second and third strike of lightening, flashing successively closer to the group, gave him an idea. Swiftly, he sprinted over to Umi, who was paralyzed with fear. As he lifted his sword, a memory flashed through his mind.

_"How are you going to get me to bend that spoon if not with my hands?" Umi snakred, giving him a condescending look. "With my mind?"_

_"With your energy," Hiei answered, matching her attitude. Throwing the spoon at her, he instructed, "Focus your energy on it; it'll bend."_

_"In case you don't recall, I'm gonna throw this out there for ya. We haven't worked with that element yet."_

_"You said I need to cause you pain, right?" the fire demon inquired, getting up from his position in front of her. "I think I can handle that."_

_"Hold up," Umi immediately answered, blatantly fearful. "What're you going to do?"_

_Disappearing and reappearing directly in front of her, he kicked her as hard as he could (within reason), causing her to double over in pain. The spoon, which had been tossed aside a few moments ago, jumped up into the air, landing on the floor with a resonate clang. The elemental wasn't able to open her mouth for air before Hiei again beat her. The spoon again flew and fell. The process repeated itself a few more times before the spoon simply exploded from all of the energy pumped into it. This was how they trained--the fire demon would instill the specific emotion needed until Umi could remember the sensation and recall it at will. They'd never been able to successfully get on element working at a time, but it didn't matter yet._

And he wasn't going to tempt fate yet; he prayed that his alternative plan would work as he rammed the blade in his hand through the elemental's body, avoiding her major organs. Umi gasped, losing all muscle control in her lungs and falling down as Hiei removed the sword. Before the fracts could figure out what Hiei was up to, the fire demon darted up to them and sliced through their bodies repeatedly.

Deep gashes slowly appeared on their bodies as blood gushed out, staining the concrete with the crimson substance. Shock and incomprehension played upon their expressions.

"But how?" Enlil gasped, slowly beginning to fall.

"Her blood," Hiei answered flatly, wiping the blade clean. "It was left on my sword after I stabbed her. The Spirit Energy in her blood is as good as her own attacks." As he turned to the others, the fracts collapsed.

It was then that Kuwabara got up and looked around. "Damn, that was uncalled for, Hiei."

The little fighter paused to glare at Kuwabara before returning to where Umi was laying. As he picked her up, he replied, "I did what I had to." Kuwabara imagined he saw some sort of somberness to his tone, but couldn't tell for sure before Hiei continued, "Get the other two and bring them inside for treatment."

"I hope Yukina can help," the human commented, grabbing the others by the wrists.

Instead of making a smart comment about how the idiot was going to carry their unconscious comrades, Hiei simply shook his head. There was no way to get through to one like him.

* * *

Is this an appropriate time for me to say, "DUN DUN DUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN"? I think it is.


	9. Chapter 9

Whoo chapter 9! Another epic fight scene! Fun for all!

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH, but I do own everything else.

* * *

It went without saying that Yusuke was pissed. And who'd blame him? He didn't even get to fight those fracts--in fact, he'd been the first one out cold--and he missed the elemental, and now nobody else seemed to know anything he felt was necessary to know for finding the elemental.

Kurama was less than pleased with the results of the fight as well. Neither Hiei nor Kuwabara remembered the fact that his cousin had seen anything, and he certainly wasn't going to ask her about it--if she hadn't said anything, he was going to continue operating under the impression that she thought what she'd seen was a dream. At this point, he began to entertain the thought that Hiei, and perhaps Kuwabara as well, knew something he didn't. Of course, the little fire demon was impossible to find outside of the group's morning meetings, and then Umi was there, so that conversation was off limits.

The spirit fox was drawn out of his suspicious thoughts by Yusuke's loud groan. "Come on Kuwabara, you have to remember something!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kuwabara repeated, flopping back into the couch.

"The fight. What happened in the fight?!" Yusuke demanded, irate.

"You and Kurama got your asses kicked, then Hiei and I (mostly I) beat the hell out of those wimpy little fracts, and here we are," the boy explained again, looking bothered. "You act like I'm leaving something out or something."

"What about the part where my cousin came out to investigate all the commotion?" Kurama inquired. "I know I saw her out there."

"I think you're delusional," Kuwabara informed flatly. "Genkai and Yukina both said she was in the temple the whole time."

"You know, maybe they're just saying that because this is all part of some conspiracy," Yusuke commented, somewhere between thoughtful seriousness and mocking amusement. "It's obvious that you're blackmailing them to keep them quiet."

"How could I do that?!"

"Yeah, you're right; Yukina could beat you up."

"Could not--"

"I guess Hiei's the one who's masterminding this plot, then," Yusuke continued, ignoring Kuwabara's continued rantings of annoyance compounded with overexaggerated body movements. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

No sooner had the words come from his mouth than did Hiei walk through the door. The Spirit Detective's "speak of the devil" comment went mostly undetected, as Kurama simultaneously asked, "Where have you been?"

Hiei didn't answer immediately. A look of irritation passed over his face.

_"Come off it."_

_"I don't know what you're talking about."_

_"Hiei--"_

_"Drop it," the demon snarled, giving the girl a glare. "It's none of your business."_

_Rage flashed through her emerald irises. "None of my business? None of my business?! I feel like it is my business! You fucking stabbed me, and now that I want to know what was going on, it's none of my business?! What the hell is that?!"_

_"If it was your concern, you'd already know about it," Hiei replied swiftly, intensifying his glare. "You don't need to know; you'll only be in more danger."_

_"From you? Or somebody else?"_

_There was no reply. Hiei, instead, turned to walk off, but didn't make it far. Her hand shot out, grabbing him by the shoulder, and slamming him into the factory wall. The movement was so sudden and unexpected that the demon was caught off guard and kept the surprised and confounded expression on his face as his ruby irises met her emeralds. _

_"I know what I saw," she growled. "Now I just want it explained. Either you can start talking, or I'll just go ask Kurama--that is what you call him, isn't it?--myself. I'm sure he won't be pleased to find out about this." Her threat was punctuated by a quick flick of attention to her midsection, where her bandages were slightly visible through her shirt. "So what's it gonna be?"_

_Hiei gave her a snarky glance with a mixed, but overtly angry, one. "You've gotten to be rather arrogant for a human, haven't you?"_

_"I'm serious."_

_Hiei sighed. She would go and ruin everything like that. "Alright, it began. . ."_

"Out doing your job, Detective," he finally answered, sending the subject his pattented glare.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The elemental is in the city," he informed, "but its energy is so erratic that we can't track it until we've run across it and I can track it visually with my jigan eye."

That was rather direct. "So what do you suggest we do?" Yusuke questioned in an offended manner.

"Those damned fracts have an easy enough time finding it," he pointed out. "We should let them do the legwork and take them out when they find it."

"I like your style."

* * *

Umi looked up from the rolling green field to the aquamarine sky. The sun was just passing its zenith. That meant Hiei was still at her house. Damn.

The entire day simply oozed strangeness. She'd learned that her cousin was a demon, but somehow, she was completely okay with that fact. Instead, she'd been focusing on her own strange emotions, especially those concerning her cousin's friend. She was no fool; she recognized that she was attracted to him. The problem lay in the fact that it was compounded of many parts: foremost, she was dating somebody else; secondly, Hiei was her cousin's friend, and it would be awkward if they were together; thirdly, she wasn't sure if she was really attracted to him or if she was simply bored with Jamal; and lastly, she didn't even know if he liked her as a person, let alone the way she maybe perhaps liked him.

Umi sighed heavily. She needed advice, and she knew just where to get it. Getting up, the elemental turned up her music, and glanced around, unsure of which way to go to get to her destination. It took her a moment, but she finally figured out which way to go, and headed off.

As she continued down the road, she began flipping through the songs on her MP3 player, searching for just the right one. Before she came across the particular song she was looking for, she collided with a soft, yet firm and feathery object. Her eyes widened as she looked at just what she'd run into.

It looked like a harpy, of a stature greater than Kuwabara's by a solid few inches. His cloud-grey, feathered body was accented by the bright yellow of his falcon claws, and the lighter sallowness of his hands and face. The predominant feature of his face was a lemon yellow beak, which ate up the equivalent area of a human's mouth and nose; its pallor was the same shade as his human eyes, but they seemed somehow to be electrified, perhaps in contrast to the feathery flesh which constructed the rest of his head. A particularly demonic grin came to his face, and his enormous feathery wings flapped in an expectant beat.

"Oh, fuck me," Umi murmured, standing flatly in the middle of the sidewalk. The adrenaline began pumping as a bass-heavy beat began pounding in her ears. No time to think. Terrified, the elemental tore off up the road in the direction she'd been going.

"I love a good chase," the creature muttered, taking off after her.

Umi's pinstripe Chucks pumped against the pavement as her heart thumped in her chest. Turning onto another street, she could see that the thing was beginning to catch up. She couldn't outrun it, and she knew it. As quickly as possible, she began amassing her energy, praying that she could pull this off.

She jumped up onto a fire escape in an alley, clambering up to the roof. As her feet hit the solid roof, she elemental took off running, jumping from one roof to the next until she was far from the street where she'd started. Hopping down onto the new street, she paused momentarily to see where the thing was. He landed right behind her, only to be struck in the head by a large rock, which distracted him long enough to have his legs encased in earth.

"What are you doing, you little bitch?!" he shrieked in a tone reminiscent of a bird call.

Umi's response was a superior grin and a middle finger, just preceding the creature being encased entirely in earth. Not sure as to how long he'd be stuck in there, she took off, sprinting as fast as he could. It didn't matter where she was going, as long as it was away from there.

* * *

"It's this way, I swear," Kuwabara called, leading the others to what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

"Are you sure?" Yusuke asked skeptically. "Why would it be out here?"

"I'm just following the energy, sheesh."

Suddenly Kuwabara came to a dead halt, causing Yusuke to run into him.

"Hey! How about you warn a guy before you stop in the middle of the street?!" the Detective snapped. Before he and Kuwabara could continue arguing, Hiei interrupted with his own snarky comment.

"So where's the elemental?"

"The energy is right here," Kuwabara insisted begrudgingly as he looked around. "But I don't see anybody here--"

At that moment, a rumbling came from beneath, and, in a flash of dark brown and grey, a large creature was expelled from the earth. He was the same creature as encountered by the elemental (unbeknownst to the group), but with a much more enraged expression. He hardly took notice of the four in front of him as he groused to himself.

"Fucking cunt," he snarled. "She will rue the day she fucking buried _me_." As he glanced around to determine just where she'd gotten to, he noticed the group of people in front of him. "Well, fuck me blind. It's the Spirit Detective and his little cronies."

"What, prey tell, are you?" Yusuke snarked, annoyed. "Because you certainly aren't even remotely human."

"Of course I'm not a human, jackass," it replied fiercely. "I am Ixion, of the element thunder. I nearly caught that fucking elemental until she buried me in the pavement."

"Where is she now?" Kurama demanded.

"If I knew, would I be here talking to you assholes?"

"Crude." Kurama turned his disgusted glance from Ixion. "What are we going to do?"

"Run off and hope we find her?" Yusuke suggested, somewhat jokingly. "She can't have gone far--she's just a human."

"That sounds like a good plan," Ixion commented, flapping his wings a few times. "I think I'll do just that." His feet slowly lifted from the ground as he laughed maniacally.

Reacting, the fox demon whipped out his trademark weapon, wrapping it around the harpy's ankle, causing it to screech in displeasure.

"You fucking son of a--"

"Kurama, can I count on you to take care of this pest?" Hiei inquired blandly.

"I suppose so, but why?"

"If there's one of these things around, there's probably another, and since this one found the elemental already--"

"The other one may find it soon," Kurama finished, nodding. "Do you want to take one of them with you?"

"No." As Hiei turned to dart off, Ixion interjected, laughing.

"What's the matter, Hiei; not strong enough to take me?"

"You're not worth my time," the fire demon informed, disappearing before their very eyes.

Enraged, Ixion attempted to follow the pint-sized demon, but was unable, as Kurama yanked him to the ground, cracking the cement. The harpy again screamed, but lashed out at the nearest human--at the moment, it happened to be Kuwabara. His claws slashed the human's supple flesh, causing a soft scream accompanied by the squelching of blood. Appalled, Yusuke shot at the bird beast, but it was a bit too swift, and he missed. Kurama dragged Ixion by the ankle closer to himself and away from the humans, obviously realizing that he wasn't being attacked for a reason. Before the harpy could figure a way out, the fox demon summoned some vines to hold the creature down on the ground; when he was securely held down, Kurama retracted his whip.

"Who's the elemental?" he demanded, standing over the bird.

"I don't know her name," Ixion clucked, irritated. "She's just a scrawny little girl."

"How do you track her?"

"That's none of your damn business," he snarled, sending tiny sparks from his fingertips. A couple of the sparks managed to reach Kurama's feet, giving him a mild shock. He was irritated at that, and the attack prompted a screech of pain; thorns poked into Ixion's body from the vines as a reaction to Kurama's pain. Begrudgingly, he added, "I'm not to tell you."

"Oh? And why's that?"

Ixion cawed at him, earning another stab from his floral captor. "The master wills it that way. He thinks it's funnier."

"The master?" Kuwabara repeated. "What master?"

"Nobody asked you, human!" Another quick spark of electricity from the nearby lamp post accentuated his scream.

Yusuke groaned in frustration. "Look, we're getting nowhere. Put the damn thing out of its misery and let's go find Hiei."

"If the snake hasn't gotten him yet..." Ixion's comment was ended voluntarily, but it still gartered another stabbing--this time to vital pressure points. After a few moments, Kurama relaxed the vines.

"Let's see if we can find Hiei," Kurama agreed before the three darted off.

* * *

Stay tuned for Chapter 10! :D


	10. Chapter 10

Ugh, not being able to log in for 2 days nearly gave me a kiniption (which may or may not be spelled right), but I finally got this up! Yay 10 chapters!

Disclaimer: Still don't own YYH; everything else is me.

* * *

Hiei, however, didn't want to be found at that moment; he was busy looking for the renegade elemental. Of course, he kept telling himself that it was because he would be the one in trouble if that hot-headed human got herself into any mischief, but he wasn't positive he believed himself--but now was not the time for that.

Using his jigan eye, he had seen the girl ducking into an alleyway, which would serve as a resting place. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure which alleyway, so he was forced to run past every alley in the downtown area until he found her. After the twentieth alley or so, he nearly tripped upon a small pair of feet, causing him to swear violently. Until he realized whose size 6 pinstripe Chucks he'd kicked.

"Finally," he groused, giving her an annoyed look. "We've got to get you home before Kurama notices--"

"I," Umi announced, panting heavily, "am not moving, _mon frer_." Exhasperated, she yanked out her lifeless headphones and tossed them on the ground.

"And why the hell not?"

"Look," she asserted, her eyes narrowing into a menacing glare as her head slowly rose to look at the slightly surprised fire demon. "I don't know how you demons roll, but I can't run five miles nonstop and be perfectly fine. So back the fuck off."

Her words were rather harsh, considering it was her, and he was mildly taken aback. "You are such a whiner," he commented, annoyed, as he leaned against the opposite wall. For a few moments, neither spoke, but instead stared at each other.

"Yeah, I'm still not getting up," Umi decided, flopping backward onto the ground. "No way in hell I'm moving."

Biting his tongue for once, Hiei begrudgingly offered her his hand to help her up. Since getting angry with her didn't work, he figured he could try diplomacy. Umi blinked a few times, starring between his outstretched hand and his face, looking for a hint of malice or mockery. There was none; only a steadily growing expression of irritation.

"This isn't an offer that's going to last long," Hiei growled, furrowing his brow. The show of aggravation earned him a swift kick in the shin before the girl sat up enough to take his hand. In reply to her mild violence, the fire demon yanked her up off the ground a bit too quickly, causing her to trip over her own feet and nearly fall back to the floor. She simply glared at him.

"Well, are you going to stand there and glare at me or are we going to move?"

Her glare began to falter, and she glanced at her own weak knees. "Um, Hiei..."

"Is this something I won't want to hear?"

"I can't feel my legs."

Hiei had to try very hard not to throw her back onto the ground and storm off in a huff. Instead, he growled in irritation as he maneuvered the girl so she was propped up against his shoulder. The two struggled for a few moments, trying to logistically work out how they could walk, when a strange voice hissed out from the darkness behind them.

"Need some assistance?"

Both whipped around, one really because the other had, to see who had spoken. From the way the light entered the alley, they could only see his upper body. It was thin, but not scrawny, and clothed in nothing more than a red wifebeater, which accentuated the sallow pallor off his skin. He stood at about the same height as Kuwabara, but with a much younger, boyish face, accentuated by his pumpkin-colored irises. The red rings around the irises, as well as the yellow-to-crimson gradient of his shaggy, shoulder-length hair, gave them the sneaking suspicion that all was not as it seemed.

"No, I think we've got it," Umi answered, smiling. "But thanks for the offer." The case wasn't helped, of course, when she slipped from Hiei's grip and fell to the ground.

"Are you sure?" he persisted lightly, almost laughing.

"We don't accept help from strangers," Hiei snarled, pulling Umi up to her feet again.

"Then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tytus, Serpent of the Flames, and I am here to retrieve the elemental." Punctuating his introduction was a shot of something from the shadows. A long, scaly serpentine tail, shaded variant hues of scarlet with splotches of yellow-orange, swiftly slid around the elemental's midsection and ripped her from Hiei's grip, dragging her along the ground toward his serpentine body.

Umi shrieked loudly before Tytus' tail wrapped around her mouth, cutting off her air supply. In reaction, Hiei drew his sword and made a motion to run at the snake-man, who made a cautionary noise.

"Now, now, Hiei," he warned mockingly, "you wouldn't want to hurt your little friend again, would you?" Just to reiterate his insult, he waved the girl back and forth in front of him.

Rage flashed through Hiei as he glared menacingly at the snake creature. As he looked past the elemental at Tytus, though, he noticed the terrified, screaming look in the girl's eyes. Panic was setting in as she was losing air, and, for a few moments, he struggled with how to utilize it. He was fully aware that she could suffer from asphyxiation, but she needed the intense panic to be able to summon some water to defeat the creature. Seeing as how she hadn't successfully been able to summon any elements thus far, she'd need all the help she could get. Although he didn't want to have to stab her again (Kurama might actually notice this time), but if she didn't do something soon, he'd have to come up with something--and quick.

And then it happened. A large volume of water materialized around Tytus' head, forming into an amorphous blob that resembled a sphere. Tytus' hands flew to his face, but to no avail; the liquid wasn't moving anywhere. Flailing violently, the snake-man hurled the elemental a few feet away and continued clawing at the water in a fruitless attempt to get some air into his system.

Umi lay on the ground, gasping for air. As he darted over to her, he noted that the girl wasn't controlling the water in any physical way--no gripping hand or anything like that. He kneeled down next to her as she coughed and gasped; sometime between these two extremes, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Eventually, she choked out, "No thanks to you."

"Well, did you want me to stab you again?"

"Did you have to stab me?"

"Yes."

"I feel like that's a lie. But let's get out of here; I can't hold this up for much longer."

Instead of pointing out that he could take care of Tytus, Hiei decided to listen to the girl. Carefully, he picked her up and ran off in order to avoid the same argument they'd had earlier.

* * *

"Do you even know where we are?"

"Do you want me to drop you and make you walk?"

"I'm just saying that we've run by that restaurant like 3 times now; that's all."

"Look, why don't you just shut up and stop fidgeting?"

"I'm trying to get my phone--"

"Is that what that obnoxious noise is?"

Umi ignored him, as she had extracted the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"

_"Umi?"_ It was Kurama. _"Where are you?"_

"I'm...out," Umi answered vaguely, looking around to see if she could find anywhere that she'd been before to lie to him.

_"Out where?"_

Umi caught sight of the nearest street sign, and recognized where it was. "Oh, I'm just at Kuwabara's."

_"Um, why?"_

"Because I'm hanging out with Shizuru and Keiko, duh."

_"Oh."_ It seemed like Kurama was still trying to talk to her, but she didn't really care. As she put the phone away, she poked Hiei in the side and pointed to the right. "Down that street."

"Why?" Hiei inquired suspiciously, stopping immediately.

"Because I'm telling you how to get to Kuwabara's house."

"Must I repeat myself?"

"I'm going to see Shizuru and Keiko, of course."

Hiei gave her a look before sighing, shrugging, and taking off in the direction to which Umi was gesturing. When they arrived at the Kuwabara residence, Hiei dumped her off and took off without a word. Bothered, Umi knocked on the door, glaring in the direction Hiei'd run off in. Finally, Shizuru answered the door.

"Well, hello there," she greeted. "This is a nice surprise."

"Yeah, I kinda need some advice."

Keiko popped her head out from behind Shizuru. "Advice on what?"

"How about we let her in first?" the elder Kuwabara suggested, letting the elemental in. The three sat down in the living room, and Shizuru poured a cup of tea for each of them. Sitting back, she sipped her tea and turned to Umi. "Now, what is it you need?"

"Well, you see, I'm having some man trouble," she began pensively. "I think I like another guy--not the one I'm dating. But I don't know if I really like him, or if I'm just bored with my boyfriend."

"Who's the other guy?" Keiko inquired, leaning forward expectantly.

"It's irrelevant," Umi murmured, blushing slightly. "I just don't know what to do."

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Shizuru asked, knowing the answer already. "You've got to break up with your boyfriend."

"Break up with him?"

"Yeah." Somewhere in the midst of conversation, Keiko's phone began to ring and she was currently occupied in that conversation, so she was unable to back the elder Kuwabara up when given an inquiring glance by said girl. Ignoring the side conversation, she continued, "It's the only solution. If you break up with him, you'll know the answers to all your other questions."

Umi nodded. "I suppose so."

"So how're you going to break up with him?"

"Face to face."

"Why don't you just call him? It's faster."

"Because you should break up with someone who's physically there. Only bitches and pussies break up with someone who isn't around to react," the girl informed, flopping back and folding her arms. She imagined that she heard Yusuke shriek with laughter in the background of Keiko's phone, but she chose to ignore it. "Besides, I think it shows you whether you really want to go through with it or not."

"Makes sense to me," Shizuru concurred, nodding. "So when do you see him again?"

"I don't know, I guess--" her sentence was cut off by her phone ringing. As she picked her phone up, Keiko put hers down.

"Why was he calling?" Shizuru inquired.

"He says Shuichi made him call because he didn't believe his cousin was here."

'He's really suspicious sometimes."

"Well, she is lying most of the time."

"True that."

At that comment, Umi snapped her phone shut, looking, if anything, pleased.

"What's the good word?"

"I'm going to meet him now," Umi informed, getting up quickly. "I'll give you guys a call afterward."

"Good luck," the two wished as the door shut. As soon as the footsteps were inaudible, they exchanged glances, both looking like they didn't feel like this would end well.

* * *

And the plot thickens! New chapter will be up within the next couple of weeks.


	11. Chapter 11

Now, I know you've been dying for this chapter. So here it is. :D

Disclaimer: Still don't own YYH. It's a damn shame.

* * *

As she walked down the lonely street, Umi felt strangely paranoid. It may have been because she was walking all alone in the dark, or because she was beginning to suffer from the pains of her aches, but it was most likely because she felt like she was being watched. Silly, yes, but incredibly true. She ignored it for the most part; the only way she acknowledged it was by regretting that she hadn't brought anybody with her.

Glancing nearly fearfully about, Umi rounded another corner and paused for a moment to catch her breath when she noticed somebody standing a few feet in front of her, just watching. Creepily, almost. He was a burly man, a few years older than herself, with a very foreign flare. His sun-kissed skin was draped in dark grey, nearly form-fitting pants and a lighter grey shirt; multiple black belts hung from his waist. The man's messy black hair was just a few shades darker than his belts, and hung in his grey eyes. A soft smile played across his lips.

More concerned than before, Umi couldn't stop herself from asking the stupid question: "Can I help you?"

"Well, you see, my name is Ferro, and -- now, Demitrius, now!"

"Huh--?" Umi was cut off by multiple pairs of hard, heavy arms wrapping around her body. As she struggled, she could see that whatever was holding her had 3 pairs of rock-solid, brown-grey stone arms; based on what little else she could see, it looked like the creature was made from the slate material. Anything else about him was obscured by her position. Distracted by her captor, she didn't notice how Ferro had positioned himself -- right in front of her.

"Good work, Demitrius," he commented, grinning.

"Master will be pleased?" Demitrius' voice was guttural and choppy; it was reminiscent of the stereotypical Frankenstein of movies.

"Naturally. As will all of the others."

"Where are you taking me?" Umi demanded, fruitlessly kicking her feet as quickly and violently as she could.

"Don't worry; you'll be among people you know soon," Ferro assured, laughing maniacally. Umi wasn't assured.

* * *

"Hey Kuwabara, got any threes?"

Kuwabara glared over his massive hand of cards, grumbling angrily to himself. "Yeah, Urameshi, I do. Hold on."

Yusuke snickered as Kuwabara shuffled the stack of cards in his hands, earning a multitude of angry comments from the disgruntled human. Hiei, meanwhile, shook his head and returned his attention to the phone in his hand; earlier, Yusuke got fed up with Kurama's incessant checking of his phone, and wanted to destroy it--Kuwabara took the phone and gave it to Hiei for safekeeping to make everybody happy. Kurama was right, Hiei thought, to be worried about his cousin, but simultaneously felt that he was being a bit ridiculous--after all, the girl was known to sneak off to parties with narcotics once or twice a month and stay out all night. Although it took quite a while, Kurama had eventually calmed down to a stable mental degree, and was now playing Go Fish with Kuwabara and Yusuke (this game had developed between the two humans while the fox demon was having a breakdown before their morning meeting had started, and was apparently taking the place of said meeting).

"Here," Kuwabara finally groused, tossing the card at the Detective. "Stealin' all my cards..."

"Kuwabara, you've got half the deck; you've probably got every card I need," he informed, snickering to himself. Placing another pair on the living room table, he grinned while turning to Kurama. "Alright, fox-boy, your turn."

Kurama nodded. "Well Kuwabara, do you have any aces?"

"Damn it Kurama!" Kuwabara had to shuffle three or four times through his cards, shouting at Yusuke for laughing, before he found the card. "This game sucks."

"I think you suck," Hiei suggested, earning the standard set of responses from the others: that stupid, offended glance, obnoxious noise, and incessant shouting from Kuwabara; derogatory laugher from Yusuke; and that simultaneously amused-disapproving glance-snicker-grin combination from Kurama.

"You just keep your mouth shut, shorty," Kuwabara growled. Flipping through his cards, he finally decided on the one for which he was going to ask; his only problem now was choosing whom he'd ask.

"Come on Kuwabara; hurry up so I can win," Yusuke snarked merrily.

"Why I aught to--"

"YUSUKE!"

The loud scream, combined with the unexpected appearance from nowhere of Koenma, caused the Detective to scream and flail about in reaction. "What the hell?! You could've given me a fucking heart attack or something!"

"I don't have time for your attitude, Yusuke!" Koenma shouted, terrified and exasperated. "You all need to come to Spirit World right away!"

"Why?"

"The elemental's been kidnapped!"

* * *

"Do you know where she is?"

"Do you know who took her?"

"Do you know who she is?"

"Do you know if she's even still alive?"

"Enough!" Koenma hollered, clamping his hands over his ears as he ran back to his giant cushy chair. "I don't know a thing!"

"Then how do you know she's been kidnapped?" Yusuke snapped, enraged.

"Because of this," the lord of the Underworld informed, tossing a sheet of paper at the group in front of his desk. It landed lifelessly on the floor, and Kuwabara finally picked it up and read it aloud.

"'Ha ha, we got the elemental. Suck it, Urameshi; we won.' Gee, that's nice."

"Whoever took her is dead! Dead!" Yusuke shouted, snatching the paper form Kuwabara and rereading it. "Nobody gloats at me!"

"It's kinda hard to get revenge on somebody you don't know--" Kuwabara's sardonic reply was cut off by an obnoxious ringing. It took them all a few moments to realize it was coming from Hiei, who eventually recalled that he had Kurama's phone in his pocked and took it out.

"Answer it!" Kurama demanded immediately, slight panic in his voice.

Looking uncertainly at the device, Hiei opened it and cautiously answered, "Hello?"

_"Tell Koenma to turn on his television."_

Just as he registered that it was Umi, the other line hung up. His surprise and irritation must have shown on his face, as Kurama immediately inquired, "Who is it?"

Hiei didn't answer. He chose instead to turn to Koenma as he shut the phone. Putting it away, he advised, "Turn on your television; somebody wants to talk to you."

Confused, Koenma shuffled the papers on his desk around for a few tense moments as he tried to locate the remote. Following these few frantic seconds, the baby ruler found it and turned on the TV. Immediately on screen appeared a familiar face, smirking maliciously.

"Jamal?" Kurama gasped, shocked. "what's going on?"

"Something marvelous, Kurama," he answered, widening his grin and exposing his particularly pointy teeth.

"_You_ took the elemental?" he inquired, incredulous. "What could you possibly want with one?"

"Oh, I didn't take her. She came quite willingly."

"No she wouldn't," Kuwabara interrupted factually. "Shizuru said she was going to break up with you--"

"Shut up, you idiot," Hiei hissed. Luckily for him, it went undetected by Kurama, who was too distracted by the human's comment.

"What do you mean, Kuwabara?" he tried gently; his tone, however, nowhere near matched the malicious glare in his eyes.

"What he means is this," Jamal answered, dragging another person into the screen. She was wearing something stark-white adorned with patterns of blood, and a hollow look in her emerald irises.

"Umi!" Kurama was completely taken aback. First off, how had he not noticed that she was the elemental? Was he truly that inadequate? And secondly, his cousin was in serious trouble, and there was no way out of it that he could see in that moment. What was he going to do?

"Um, what are you going to do with an elemental?" Yusuke asked, scornful, and turning attention away from Kurama as he went into a state of shock. "Aren't you just a human? What do you care?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was still in my human costume. Just a moment." As soon as the words left his lips, he began to change. His chocolate skin lost its color and much of its pigment, turning a pale shade of dull grey, while his ebony dreadlocks melted off of his head. Lengthening prodigiously, his ears tapered to a point, mimicking his canines. His face lengthened as well, becoming elongated to a sickening mutation, and his eyes turned white. From his back sprouted two leathery wings, which ended at the tips of his pointed claws.

"He's a vampire?!" Yusuke shirked, disbelieving and irate. "What else is he going to surprise us with? Is he working with the boogeyman and Elvis on a fucking spaceship?"

"I am not a vampire," Jamal informed, somewhat bothered but more superior. "I am the succubus Orpheus."

"Um, wouldn't being a guy make you an incubus?" Kuwabara suggested, confused. "Am I the only one who thinks that?" Koenma and Yusuke nodded in the background, answering to the affirmative.

"A succubus," Hiei began, glaring at the creature in question, "is any creature which takes a vital substance from another--blood, spirit energy, even powers and abilities. By this definition, an incubus is any creature which puts a substance into another--usually something toxic."

"Very good Hiei," Orpheus congratulated mockingly, his grin turning foul. "I suppose you, then, understand my intentions?"

"You wish to take her powers," he informed, gritting his teeth.

"Naturally."

"Hey, I've got a question," Yusuke interrupted in annoyance. "If you're gonna take her powers, won't those fract-whatevers come after you for the powers?"

"They're the ones who brought her to me," Orpheus announced. "I've mastered a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"None of your concern, Detective." A mildly curious expression passed over his face as he turned toward Kurama, who hadn't moved. "Anything, Kurama?"

"How could I not stop this?" the fox demon murmured, looking lost. "I simply don't understand: how could I ever have been so blind?"

"You know, I'm surprised myself," the succubus agreed, looking pensive, yet dastardly. "After all, your friends knew."

That woke Kurama up very quickly. He snapped his attention toward Orpheus. "What are you talking about?"

"You know the people who knew who the elemental was? All of them have been lying to you to keep her secret. Genkai, Yukina, Keiko, Shizuru, Kuwabara..." he let his sentence dangle as Kurama took the information in, and it was certainly not taking well.

"Wait, Kuwabara knew?!" Yusuke shrieked in offended disbelief flailing wildly while making this overtly exaggerated exclamation and turning to the other human. "How did you know--why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because she wouldn't train if Kurama found out, and you can't keep a secret," Kuwabara replied, annoyed and patronizing. "She thought she was a freak or something."

"Train? When the hell did she have time to train? She was always hanging around the house or out partying!"

"Um, it's called lying Urameshi. She didn't go out to party; she went out to train."

"With who? Certainly not you."

Kuwabara glared, but Orpheus only widened his amused and psychotic grin. "Kurama, do you want to know which of your good friends spent every night with your cousin and then lying to you every day about it?" Kurama simply glowered, not dignifying the question with an answer. Orpheus didn't mind, lightly changing the subject. "He gave her the ability to hide her energy from you; he taught her how to control the elements. She used these abilities to lie to you, and those powers to defeat my minions--well, not the first time. He had to hurt her the first time, to get at her blood, laced with this energy. They both kept that stabbing a secret. But it's mostly healed now; don't worry."

"You know, somehow, I don't buy that," Yusuke commented, breaking Orpheus' tantalizing spell over Kurama. "You can't make kids these days do anything."

"Yeah," Kuwabara concurred. "Urameshe's living proof of that."

Orpheus snarled at the Spirit Detective for interrupting, but retained his collected persona as he snapped, summoning Umi closer. "Show them."

Mindlessly, Umi held up her left forearm. A few moments of minor twitching in her right fingers produced a solid piece of sharp steel, which she quickly slid across her arm, drawing blood.

Kurama gasped, as did all of the others, causing Orpheus to laugh. "What's the matter, Hiei; didn't you know she could summon the elements, too?" At that remark, Kurama whirled around angrily to the little demon, seething.

"You?! You've been lying to me?! And you hurt my cousin?! What sort of terrible things did you teach her?! I can't believe you, you fucking--" Kurama cut himself off and stormed out of the room without another word. He couldn't take this kind of stress, not right now; he needed to clear his mind to be of any use.

Orpheus was close to more laughter, but instead turned toward Yusuke. "You all are welcome to join us for the ritual, if you like." With that, the transmission ended.

"So what're we gonna do?" Kuwabara asked, turning to the others.

"You all will be going to get the girl back!" Koenma ordered loudly. "Since you can track her, you'll be able to find her. So go!"

"What about Kurama?" Yusuke inquired, glancing nervously toward the door.

"Take him with you. I can guarantee you'll need his help."

* * *

And NOW is an appropriate time for this: "DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!" XD

New chapter'll be up in a week or so. More drama, more intense action, and maybe an epic fight scene.


	12. Chapter 12

Wow, this definitely took an hour to type up. My hands hurt. -.- But it's all worth it for those shiny, shiny reviews! :D Thanks to you all for that incentive.

--Speaking of reviews, it definitely PAYS to review. Lucky #30 on crossyourtees' fic, aka me, gets a cameo in her fic. HURRAY FOR ME!

Disclaimer: Again, YYH = not mine. I'll let you know when it is mine so I can stop doing this disclaimer thing.

* * *

The group had traveled in silence for house; the silence itself was intense and rather angry--Kurama was still extremely irate with both Hiei and Kuwabara. He chose to walk behind the others until they arrived at the location wherein Umi was being held. Located in the Demon World, it was a grand stone tower, leaning dangerously at opposing, extreme angles, ending in a spire at the top. The sea crashed against the sandstone cliff, over which the tower was precariously perched; a few of the foamy green waves splashed on the ground at their feet. Two things clued them into the fact that Umi was held there: firstly, a powerful, recognizable energy was rythmically pumping from the top of the tower; secondly, the six fracts which made up the cult Gentis de Fractae stood at the only entrance, loitering as though waiting for a bus.

"Told you they'd show," Ixion grumbled, earning a punch in the arm from Ferro.

"They still managed to beat your sorry ass," Ferro mocked, earning laughter from the others.

"I got this," Yusuke called, walking up to the group and putting on a particularly menacing face. "Hey! Is that Orpheus creep keeping the girl up there?"

"Unfortunately," Enlil replied. "He's keeping her away from us for some unholy reason."

"He claims to be preparing her for the fun part of the ritual," Ur rhasped, obviously annoyed and suspicious.

"Well," Yusuke suggested, "how about you let us go up there and check on him for ya?"

"Orpheus says you must earn your way up," Tytus hissed evilly.

"How do we do that?"

"Figure it out."

Annoyed, the Detective turned toward the others, who hurried over. "What do you think we should do?"

"Time's running out," Ferro commented mildly, glancing at the sun. "She should be ready by nightfall."

"So hurry," Demitrius advised, punctuating his sentence with a malicious chuckle, which all of the others emulated.

Livid, Kurama stormed up to the closest fract, Ixion, and slammed him into the tower, partially through the outer wall. "You're going to let us in," he snarled, leaning close to the bird's face in order to effectively show off his animalistically sharp teeth. His eyes glinted gold as he finished, "I will personally shred each of you to ribbons if I have to."

"You wouldn't dare," Ixion growled, unsure.

"I don't make idle threats."

"Let them in," Ferro commanded, obviously pleased with Kurama's reaction. "Orpheus will be most pleased."

"Yeah, I bet he will," Kuwabara groused as the four walked in, just overpowering Yusuke's annoyed comment of, "You'd be pissed if I did that..."

* * *

It wasn't that silence permeated the empty tower as the group hurried up the stairs; it was that none of them spoke, instead listening to the hollow, dull echo of their feet hitting the stone floors, and their own thoughts. That sneaking feeling of awkwardness slunk stealthily into the stairwell, ending as suddenly as it was first sensed.

"How long were you going to keep this from me?" Kurama finally inquired, keeping his eyes forward and tone neutral.

Hiei knew it was he who was being referenced. "As long as I had to," he responded. "That girl is stubborn and quick to anger; I couldn't predict how she would react or what her powers might do in retaliation."

"Sounds like somebody else we know," Yusuke commented lightly. Something sparked in his brain, causing a connection and a memory to reconcile into a devilish grin as he changed the subject. "Hey, Hiei, remember when you were asking Kurama for some advice about a girl?" Hiei wisely didn't answer. "I know you do. But I was just wondering if the girl was Umi..."

"What do you think, Detective?" the tiny demon snapped, annoyed.

"What did you need his help with?" That sly tone in his voice warranted a disgusted glare from the subject's cousin. "Oh, come on Kurama, you want to know, too."

"I needed to figure out how to work with her without getting her worked up," Hiei flatly answered. "I was concerned that her powers would act up if she became hysterical; it's obvious that my concerns were ill-founded." His tone was a strange combination of rage, bewilderment, pride, and some other, unidentifiable, carnal emotion. The others certainly picked up on this last feeling, but refrained from pointing it out.

If the conversation continued, it was going to get awkward, and fast; realizing this, Kuwabara interjected, "so, do we have a plan, or are we just going to bust in and see what happens?"

"We're just gonna bust in, duh," Yusuke responded sardonically. "That's how we do it."

"That's what I thought..."

* * *

Finally arriving at the top of the spiral stairs, the quartet encountered a large, solid-wood door. The antiquated oak door was surrounded by an iron casting around the edges, smelted on to keep the door in its original shape despite the high humidity. Unlike its original demon crafter, Yusuke wasn't particularly worried about the door's condition, and kicked it open for dramatic effect.

Inside the door was a round room which, at first, didn't appear to have anything more than an oversized arched window, from where they could see the churning green sea. To their right, however, were rows of pews with an aisle going up the middle, directly to an altar made of white marble and splattered with blood. Ancient demonic symbols were written in an unidentifiable crimson-raven substance, surrounded by torches, upon the far right wall behind the altar, where a menagerie of lit white candles, in various phases of melting, were placed. There didn't appear to be anybody in the room until they heard the door shut behind them. Whirling around, they saw--

"Umi?" Kurama's question was hardly audible. It seemed that he had noticed the change in his younger cousin. The first thing noticeable was her outfit: a white dress, sans sleeves, which cut off about halfway down her thighs but trailed in the back, which swirling runic symbols painted in blood covering the majority of it. Her ebony hair hung in her face. That was the rub: the expression on her face--or, rather, the lack thereof. It necessity called for a word, it would be somber, but it wasn't quite; it was absolutely emotionless, utterly blank with a dead-pan stare. The most glaring change was that stare: normally, those eyes were bright with life and alive with thought; now they were positively lifeless, blank, set in an unfeeling, unfocused gaze. It was physically painful for the kitsune to see; his eyes, so much like hers, began to well up with tears.

"I see my minions let you up without a fight," a voice to their left noted, amused, from the shadows. Smiling demonically, he stepped out into the light for all to see. "That's good. But then, they're really only doing it because they want her too..."

"You bastard!" Kurama screamed, quickly turning his violent gaze on the succubus. "What did you do to her?!"

"She's fine," Orpheus assured, beckoning the girl over. As she made her way, unhindered by the others, who were too shocked to do anything, he explained, "She's just under a spell. You see, I've clouded her mind, and she's forced to do my bidding. For, as you surely must know, she can't be harmed before the ritual."

"Well, I've got news for you, buddy," Yusuke informed, stepping up. "There isn't going to be any ritual. We're taking her back."

"And, let me guess," the creature mocked, trying not to laugh, "you think I'm going to let you, right?"

"Right. 'Cause if you don't, I'm going to kick your ass."

"Keep dreaming, Detective." Turning toward the others, he became a touch more professional with a business tone to his voice. "I just want to play a game."

"You dragged us all the way here to play a game?!" Kuwabara gasped, enraged. "That's insane!"

"Do you want to save the girl or not?" Orpheus asked, completely losing his air of calm control, becoming impatient and irritated. There was no response, which allowed him to gain some of his collected and controlling air back. "The rules are simple, and everybody wins. It's a numbers game, you see: each group leaves the room with the same number of people who entered. You came in with four, and you all will leave with four."

"So one of us has to stay?" Hiei responded, agitated. "Is that it?"

"Only if you want to save the girl." With that, the succubus stepped back and allowed the group to deliberate.

"There has to be a way out of this," Kuwabara grumbled, scratching his head.

"There isn't," Hiei answered curtly. "He's obviously hoping for somebody in particular to remain; we just have to figure out who it is and make sure that somebody else takes their place."

"Why don't we just kick his ass?" Yusuke groused, irritated. "Then we don't have to play by his rules."

"He won't fight; he'll use Umi to fight, and he knows we can't hurt her."

"That didn't stop you."

"Shut up, Detective."

"Maybe we should ask her what she thinks," Kuwabara thought aloud, gesturing toward the hypnotized elemental. "I bet she knows what he wants."

"Yeah!" Yusuke turned toward the snickering Orpheus. "How about it, freak? Can we have a word with her?"

"You may, but it's doubtful if she'll respond," the creature laughed, nearly falling over himself in amusement.

"Please?" Kurama pleaded, his tears still blurring his vision ever so slightly. "I just want to talk to my cousin again. To...apologize."

They weren't sure if he'd struck a chord with Orpheus, if he could get more amusement out of it, but either way, he'd consented. "Five minutes," he warned. "That's it. After that, she's mine again."

"Fine then."

The succubus snapped his fingers, and the spell was broken. Life returned to her emerald irises as they flicked around the room in an attempt to figure out what was happening. They didn't have long to register her new surroundings before she was engulfed in a blur of red.

"Umi! You're okay!" Kurama exclaimed, relieved.

"...Shuichi...?"

"Umi, I'm sorry I haven't been very good to you recently; I've just been so wrapped up in all of this stuff for Koenma and the others, and I only wanted to keep you safe--"

"Look, Shuichi, it's fine--"

"No, it isn't," he insisted, holding her tightly. "I've been terrible to you, and it caused this situation. I have to do something to make up for this--"

"No, you don't; you just have to listen to me for a second--"

"Yes, I do! I can't ever forgive myself for letting such a horrendous thing happen to you--"

"Shuichi, would you just--?"

"Don't worry about a thing, Umi; we'll get you out of here, no matter what--even if I have to stay myself, I swear--"

"Kurama!" Umi shouted, shoving him back slightly for effect. "Just listen to me for one damn moment!" At his shocked silence, she lowered her voice and continued. "Listen, whatever he says, don't do it. He's got something much more sinister planned. Don't stay here--if you do, terrible, horribly things will happen to you--"

"Um," Yusuke interrupted, "if someone doesn't take your place, terrible, horrible things will happen to _you_."

The girl shook her head rapidly. "No, that's not what I mean! I meant that--"

"Time's up," Orpheus announced, mildly panicked, as he ripped the elemental from Kurama's arms. A look of fear was set on his expression as he spun her around, but dissipated into a commanding one as he reinstated his spell over her. As son as all signs of thought drifted from her eyes, he carelessly tossed her to the side and refocused his attention on the group of enraged family and friends. "Your time isn't limitless."

"What do you think she meant?" Kuwabara asked as they regrouped. "Something bad's gonna happen to whoever stays behind; why would she reiterate that?"

"Maybe she didn't know we'd realized that," Yusuke suggested. "But we need to figure out who to leave to save her."

"How're we gonna do that?"

"Well, what does he want? A powerful creature, right? We'll leave you."

"Hey!"

"We need to leave somebody who can take care of themselves," Hiei informed, earning another annoyed and offended noise from Kuwabara. "So it can't be either of you."

"What, are you going to take her place?" Yusuke sneered. "Gonna sacrifice yourself for the girl you love--"

"I will kill you," he growled, narrowing his eyes in disgust.

There ws a pause of awkward silence. Each of the group exchanged glances with the others, unsure of who they could leave and come back for--alive. Finally, Kurama spoke up.

"I'll stay," he offered quietly. "I owe her."

"Wonderful!" Orpheus announced before anybody could protest, grinning widely. "Then our transaction has been made." He snapped his fingers and gestured for the girl to come to his side. She didn't. He snapped again, motioning more violently. Still, nothing. Turning around angrily, only to find that his prisoner wasn't on the floor where he'd thrown her, Orpheus screamed, "Where is she?!"

"Over here," she called, trying to look defiant but not pulling off, due to the obvious fear in her expression. She'd relocated to the ledge of the large window and was holding onto the sides of the window for stability.

"How did she get over there?" Kuwabara inquired, astonished.

"How did you break free from my spell?!" Orpheus shrieked, outraged. "No one has ever broken free before!"

"Telepathic communication," Umi answered haughtily, giving him an irritated glance.

"Well, get down from there!" he commanded. "You're free to go--"

"No," she interrupted, narrowing her glare. "I'm not going to let anybody else suffer because of you. You said it yourself: they came in with four, and they will leave with four. And one of those people isn't going to be me."

"Umi, we're not going to leave you here," Yusuke informed. "Koenma won't let us, even if we wanted to."

The girl shook her head. "This isn't going to be a decision you're making. It's already been made: all of you are leaving, and that's it."

Kurama gave her an unreadable glance. "You're not staying here?"

"No, I'm not." Her knowledgeable smile was partially obscured by her hair billowing in the salty wind. The silence was only broken by the crashing of the green waves on the stone below.

"You wouldn't."

"I am."

"You can't--"

"I will." She smiled sweetly, almost somberly. "Two and a half miles west." She inhaled, bracing herself, and grimmaced at the ocean below. After one last reassuring smile, she added, "I live," before throwing herself out of the window.

Kurama gasped, but it was overpowered by Yusuke's shouts. "What is that?!" he interrogated, turning to Kurama with outrage and bewilderment.

"Do you think she'll survive that fall?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah, she'll land in the water; that'll cushion the fall," Yusuke responded, realizing that this was her plan and becoming less outraged.

"No, she won't," Kurama informed, his voice very close to cracking. "She can't swim."

"What?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara were incredulous, and hardly noticed that their fourth had sprinted out the window after her. "You're just gonna let her die like that?!" Yusuke screamed, rage focused squarely on Kurama. "After all that you said before? You're okay with this?!"

"She didn't tell me she couldn't swim until she jumped," Kurama admitted, stuck in a state of shock. "I couldn't do a damn thing at that point...not a thing..."

"I want her back!" Orpheus shrieked, getting the attention of the fracts down below. "Find her!" As they dispersed, the succubus returned his enraged expression to the remaining three. "This isn't through," he informed ragefully. "One of you must stay to ensure that I get my elemental back."

"Why should we?" Kuwabara questioned.

"You agreed to play my game; you must leave with four people," he explained. "Right now, you have three. In order to continue my game, I need insurance that you will return. Otherwise, I'll have my fracts destroy whatever they find."

"Fine," Kurama murmured soberly and mindlessly. "I'll stay."

"Kurama--"

"I'll be fine, Yusuke," he informed sternly. "Just go find them. Look west." With that, he dropped his gaze, signaling that it was time for the others to leave. Without a word, the other two left, looking worried.

* * *

Geeze, talk about drama. I told you this was a dramedy. And I think this constutes another cliffhanger "DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN." Hope y'all are stoked for lucky chapter 13!


	13. Chapter 13

Greetings and salutations! I'm pretty excited about this chapter. But I'm gonna warn you: this and the next chapter are more or less the dominating reason this fic's rated M. Just trying to prepare you. (Un)lucky 13? Depends on your view.

Thanks for all the reviews, bt-dub.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. EVER!

* * *

There was nothing but darkness, and the hauntingly soothing lap of soft ocean waves against the soft sandy landmass. At first, there was only this melancholic rhythm, but touch soon followed, allowing for the sensation of the find grains as they slid between fingers, as well as the weight of one body plus another. The salty scent of the sea air came next. All of these sensations faded in and out, mimicking consciousness, for a period which seemed to last an eternity, until, finally, there was sight.

The sands of the beach were of pale grey color, and darkened as the silver-green waves lapped at them. All around the immediate area were slate cliffs which created a secluded grotto. Outside of that, nothing else could be seen, as her body was positioned face-down on the ground, held in place by the other body. After struggling for a few moments, she managed to push the other, unexpected body off of her. Her eyes lethargically moved over to the body, and it was moments before her brain registered who it was.

"Fuck!" she hissed, getting to her knees. Quickly flipping him over to lay on his back, Umi placed her ear on his chest in the hopes of hearing a heartbeat. For a few horrifying moments, there was none. Panicking, she placed her hands, heel in, on his diaphragm. Pumping evenly, she murmured the procedure to herself; it took only a few seconds, but it seemed like forever, when he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of sea water. After he recovered consciousness, Umi sighed and sat back on her heels. "Good Lord, Hiei; you scared the living hell out of me."

Sitting up, Hiei turned his patented glare on her. "You're angry at me? _You're_ angry at _me_?"

"Yes, I'm angry at you!" she concurred. "You ruined everything, then nearly gave me a heart attack by almost dying!"

A look of sheer disbelief came to his face. "You're angry at me for saving your life?"

"Yes! You ruined all of my plans! Now I don't know what's gonna happen..."

"Plans? What plans? What are you talking about?"

"The plan was simple, and followed all the rules of Orpheus's game," Umi explained, crossing her legs in front of her and leaning forward slightly. "Four come in, four leave. You all came to save my sorry ass, but couldn't just take me with you. Since you all are so noble, one of you dumbasses would offer to take my place. Now, I couldn't have that, and I couldn't have Shuichi worrying about me, so I devised a way for all of us to get out. One of us would have to go over the edge, and if any of you did it, the game may have continued. Of course, that left me, and I didn't really need to survive the fall--"

"You intended to kill yourself," Hiei informed. "You selfish bitch. Why would you do that? You say you wanted to help your cousin--how would being dead be better for him?"

"Oh, he doesn't care!" Umi snapped. "He's too busy dealing with the problems I create! It'd be better for him--hell, everybody--if I were dead! Nobody else cares about me, anyway."

Hiei blinked. That was not the kind of admission he was expecting. "What are you talking about? You're so...normal..."

The look in her eyes was truly derogatory. "Everyone's got something to hide, something that makes them hateful and violent on the inside. Some people are better at hiding it than others. I'm one of them."

That was another unexpected admission. However, he, instead of prompting her to continued, scoffed. "Maybe you humans."

"And that's precisely what makes me human," she snarled. Gesturing at his headband, she added, "I embrace my humanity; have you?"

Hiei simply glared, but she could tell that, behind his patent expression, was a mix of confusion, concurrence, and denial. He didn't reply. Not even a "hn."

* * *

A tiny bonfire burned on the edge of the waterline, near a crevice created by a few large boulders. Its radiating heat gave the night sky a wavy, rainwater look, intensifying the brightness (but not the shapes) of the quarter moon and stars, which shone exceptionally brightly in the Makai sky. Umi stared mindlessly at an indeterminate point between the tip of the flame and the greenish-hue moon. It was obvious that she was worried, and, for the longest while, Hiei had been content watching her think, not wanting to distract her. But he couldn't keep himself from asking for any longer.

"What did you mean when you said that nobody cared?"

For the first time in hours, the girl looked at him. "It's true." She paused. "I think."

He simply gave her a look. Not patronizing, per say, but certainly not believing.

"Let me tell you a story."

* * *

_Once, there was a beautiful human woman and a handsome human man, and they were desperately in love. They were young, but they married. They were both happy, not knowing of the world and its horrors._

_But they soon learned._

_One day, the woman learned that she was pregnant. This was not something she wanted at her age, and planned to terminate it. When the husband found out, he and his family forced her to keep the baby and carry it to term. The baby was born a healthy, beautiful girl, but nobody was celebrating. The m other had nearly died in childbirth, and suffered from post-pardon depression. _

_The man worked many hours in order to support his young family, and the woman grew lonely, slipping deeper into despair and depression. Eventually, she began to lose her mind. Her life was falling apart, and she blamed it on the child she didn't want. She began to enact various murder schemes to eliminate the child who she felt ruined her life, but none of her plans worked: someone was always showing up before the baby was terribly injured._

_After many years of the mother's increased madness, attempted murder, and unbearable stress, the young couple--now much, much older--separated. Somehow, the young girl wound up in the custody of the deranged mother, who had welled up a violent hatred of her bastard child. As the girl grew up, her mother told her every day how much she was hated, and what a terrible person she was, and that the world looked upon her as a mistake. So the girl grew up thinking these things because she didn't know better, but smiled, hoping that somebody would learn to love her._

_As she got older, and her mother's comments became more hateful and turned into physical lashings, she began to fight back, unable to take the animosity. She rebelled as she entered her teenage years. Her whole attitude changed, and she became emotionally closed-off, sociopathic; she couldn't wait any longer for some signs of affection. Her uncanny ability to put on a brave face and a convincing show was developed._

_The mother's hatred knew no bounds, but instead grew out of her rebelliousness, and contact between the two was limited to violent arguments and brutal beatings. One day, child services took the girl away to live with her father's relatives, as the father had gone missing years ago. No correspondence was kept between the mother and the daughter._

* * *

There was a pause, as Umi turned away again.

"What happened to the girl?" Hiei inquired quietly, giving her an inquisitive glance.

"She grew up to be a freak and endangered everybody she ever cared about," Umi answered curtly, curling up. Silence prevailed again, broken only by the crackling of the bonfire and the soothing shush of the waves.

The fire demon was unsure of how to act in reply. His first reaction was to scoff at the flaws of the humans, but he knew that the girl needed sympathy at the moment. What was strangely horrifying about this predicament was that he was actually in it, that he even considered the feelings of another before reacting. Somehow, it seemed to confirm his greatest fear: becoming attached; in this case, he was attached to another--a human, nonetheless. What an abomination--

"What are you thinking about?" Umi interrupted, looking deeply into his red irises. "You seem distant."

"Hn." At first, he glanced away, but, feeling her intense stare, returned his attention. "What?"

"You're so closed off," she informed, somewhere between worried and bothered. "Who hurt you?"

"What are you talking about? Nobody can hurt me. Emotions are for the weak."

"You hide behind your antipathy, and I want to know why."

Hiei growled, narrowing his eyes. He was obviously disgusted and enraged, but only kept the deadliest malice in his tone. "You don't need to know anything." Her determined glance didn't waver. "You want to know? Fine."

For a few moments, he didn't speak, but soon, he finally began. The fire demon wove a tale of intrigue, filled with passion and abandonment. A love rejected by society began the string of brutal violence, hatred, theft, and rage. Blood and gore met with no morality and no remorse in the tale of the bastard child, and the entire story held the undertones of a lost innocence and the harsh realities of a cruel world. As he spoke, his tone lost the wrath it began with, and ended the story with no emotion and no expression. When the demon finished, he grew silent.

Between the two, there was a growing tenseness as the girl scooted closer to the boy. Hiei gave her a confused look, and became more confounded when she moved close to his face. Without warning, she placed her hands on his headband, and, in reaction, his hands grabbed hers, causing the two to exchange glances in a stalemate. "Why are you still hiding from me?" Umi inquired quietly, sounding almost hurt as she gripped his headband in protest.

Reluctantly, he released his grasp, allowing her to pull the fabric away.

Hiei's third eye slowly opened, revealing its amethyst iris. It didn't blink, and neither did the girl's unreadable eyes. Annoyed because she was making him insecure, he groused, "Are you satisfied, now that I've successfully demonstrated my inhumanity?"

"I'm intrigued," she slowly annunciated. "It's purple. You weren't born with this eye; you had it put in."

"What?"

"It doesn't match; your eyes are the most enchanting shade of crimson I've ever seen." At that moment, their eyes met, and for the first time both noticed how close their faces were. The tension erupted between them. Both a little scared, neither one prepared, the tension mounted. Neither was sure whose face moved first, but their lips soon met in a soft kiss, sending immense electroshocks to each of their pleasure centers.

Two things happened at once. The shock enticed fear in them, and a rustling in the foliage a few feet away intensified it, causing the two to separate. Just as they moved away, someone jumped out of the brush.

"I found 'em, Urameshi!" Kuwabara called, flailing for attention.

"Good for you," Yusuke replied, following Kuwabara into their encampment.

"What now?" Hiei grumbled, looking between the humans in contempt.

"We're just here to take you back to that creep to finish his game," Yusuke answered, sitting down next to Hiei. "That guy's psycho."

"Where's Shuichi?" Umi immediately interrogated.

"We had to leave him there--"

"YOU LEFT MY COUSIN WITH THAT DERANGED PSYCHOPATH?!"

"Um...well, since you put it that way..."

* * *

Pacing patiently among the empty pews, the fox demon could feel his paranoia persistently push for prominence in his pensivity. Fears for his relation and friends fermented among festering fears for himself, and only the rhythmic replacement of his feet on the rock floor seemed to relax him in any way. Again, he glanced out the window, seeing only the churning sea; it gave him no assurance. Returning to his pacing, he couldn't stop his mind from racing. What was he doing? He should be out there saving them. Every time he passed the window, he made a motion to jump, but remembered Orpheus' threat, and picked up his repetitive motion again. How had he managed to be replaced by such an emotionally-driven, irrational abomination? Bizarre though it seemed--even to himself--he felt like he wouldn't be in any immediate danger here; after all, had Orpheus not just made a big to-do about getting _his_ elemental back?

White-hot rage flashed through him like a bolt from the blue. _His_ elemental. Like he owned the girl or something. Realzing the harm this intense emotion may cause, he stifled it. There in an instant, gone in a flash, back to the thoughtful objectiveness that had permeated the room moments before.

As he walked, he sensed that the ancient door had opened, and that a creature was standing in the shadows menacingly, with a curious grin on his face. Kurama chose to ignore his presence and maintain his inertia. The dark figure moved closer, staying in the shadows, but allowing some light to hit his distorted features. Kurama continued ignoring him.

"Shuichi," Orpheus greeted from the door, moving into the room farther. Bathed fully in the light (or what was left of it), he continued, "I'm pleased that you've decided to stay."

Kurama paused momentarily, not looking at the succubus, but didn't completely stop.

"And, why wouldn't you have stayed?" Orpheus questioned rhetorically, slowly making his way toward Kurama, pausing every now and then for effect. "You are, after all, saving your sweet cousin from a fate worse than death--you said it yourself: you owe her. All I can say is that I'm pleased that _you_ chose to take her place."

The kitsune stopped about halfway through the succubus' schpiel, and finally turned his head toward the creature; there was a pause as he stopped short of speaking. Finally, he opened his mouth. "What are you talking about?" His voice was low and even, but there was something else to it: fear.

Orpheus managed to hide his perverse grin. Making his way over to where Kurama was standing defensively, he replied, "I'm absolutely enamored by you. You're very pretty, you know." Completely undeterred by the combination of disgust and horror on his counterpart's face, he grabbed the young demon by the jaw, tilting his head back and forth as he spoke. "the curves of your face are perfectly arched in their proper proportion, displaying feminine features on a masculine structure. There's no other word for it; just pretty. Your complexion is so pale, but it's offset by your bright red hair--look, it's got a shine of its own. But, you know, I think my favorite part of you--of anyone--is the eyes. You try so hard to mask your feelings and thoughts with your facial expressions, but there's something about your eyes that always gives it away. Your emerald irises are a gateway to your innermost thoughts and feelings. And, I'm sure you've heard this before, I must say that you and your cousin have the same enviable eyes."

Disgust and discontent were apparent on Kurama's expression, but it was the utter confusion and panic in his eyes which earned the succubus's obscene grin. Of course, the kitsune was above responding to such a low, callous blow, and it didn't seem like Orpheus had a problem with it. In fact, he seemed amused when Kurama tried to pull his face away. "Like that look in your eyes now. It's so..." he seemed musing in his search for the most appropriate word. "Erotic."

Kurama's eyes shot open and he made an attempt to jerk away, but he hadn't moved fast enough. The succubus pushed himself against the fox demon and mashed their lips together. Kurama tried to pull back as the creature crammed his tongue down his throat, but Orpheus kept a tight grip on both his jaw and his waist. Orpheus's slender tongue slid invasively into and out of his mouth, nearly tripping his gag reflex a few times.

Some part of the kitsune began to feel week, as though his energy was being sapped, sucked out of his from his mouth. Just as he came to the realization that it was being taken from him, he was distracted by another disturbing development in his situation: he could feel Orpheus's groin hardening against his. The sheer violation gave Kurama the extra bit of strength he needed to push the succubus off of him.

Orpheus regained his balance after stumbling back, and snarled at the fox demon. Before either could express his rage, a loud shout resonated from the ground floor. The wordless cry distracted the two momentarily, as they recognized its origin.

* * *

Whatever you're thinking: Yes. I am a terrible, horrible person, and I cause these terrible, horrible things to happen to characters I love. So, stay tuned for Chapter 14. Or else. I mean it. :O


	14. Chapter 14

Okay, so here's the next(last) chapter for this wonderful fic. Epic fight scene = ignoring responsibilities, but hey, it's worth it.

Thanks for reviewing and reading and all that jazz, hope y'all have fun with this one.

(last)Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN YYH. EVER. Until I'm rich, then I'll buy the rights. But until then, no, I don't own it.

* * *

"You can't go up."

"What do you mean?!"

"I mean that you aren't allowed up until--"

"Listen to me, you demented retard-version of a snake, if you don't fucking move out of the way right now, I'm going to skin you alive and make myself a pair of snakeskin boots, do you hear me?!"

Hiei placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, gripping it tightly. "Shouldn't you fracts know better than to piss off a Minamino?" he asked, exasperated.

"Fine," Tytus begrudgingly answered, moving aside. "I'm just waiting for our chance to rip that girl to shreds--"

"Try me, serpent!" Umi shouted, making a move to lunge at the creature.

While the two bickered, Kuwabara turned to Yusuke. "Say, aren't these guys escaped convicts from Spirit World Jail?"

"Oh yeah!" Yusuke agreed, recalling their history.

"Shouldn't we try and arrest them?"

"Good idea." He turned to Hiei, who was having a difficult time trying to keep the volatile elemental under control. "Hey, Hiei."

"What is it, Detective? Can't you see I'm busy?" he snapped, turning his attention from the struggling girl.

"Why don't you go up and get Kurama, and we'll take care of a little detective work down here?" he suggested. "I think the girl here needs to blow off some steam..."

"No!" Umi answered. "I'm going to save Shuichi--"

"You couldn't even save yourself!" Tytus laughed.

"That's it!" she shrieked, twisting out of Hiei's impressive grip. Within seconds, she had balled her hand into a fist and slammed it into his stomach, causing him to shout out in pain. The scream was loud enough to reach the top of the tower.

"Vile wench!" he gasped, enraged. "You will suffer for your transgressions!"

"Bring it!" Umi unwisely dove at the fire fract and initiated a fight. Kuwabara dove in to assist her, and, before Yusuke had a chance to follow suit, he turned to Hiei.

"Bet we can take down these guys before you get rid of Orpheus," he grinend, prompting Hiei to run off. Refocusing his attention on the brawl, he cried, "It's ass-kicking time!" As Hiei ran off, Yusuke dove after the oncoming lightening fract, taking him down to the ground.

Ixion screeched, clawing at the detective and mildly cutting him. Yusuke was knocked off, but not for long, as he retaliated with a strong punch to his face before being hit again. The harpy again clawed Yusuke's torso; luckily, as he doubled over in pain, the semi-conscious body of Tytus went flying over him and slammed into Ixion. Both fell to the ground just as Enlil arrived on the scene.

By the time the djinn and the metal fract who followed him made their way to the group of humans, one of the said humans was already turning blue. The other two were distracted when Yusuke began choking and gasping for breath, allowing for Ferro to get an open hit on Kuwabara. As a reaction, Umi ran to Kuwabara to help him up; she heard him grumble something as she assisted him.

"What do you mean, 'not again'?" she asked, giving him a confused look.

"You have to hit that genie-guy," Kuwabara informed, pointing at Enlil. "He's choking Urameshi!"

"Okay..." Umi didn't understand why she had to hit the air creature, but shrugged and ran at him without any sort of definite plan. Ferro attempted to block her, materializing a foil rapier and thrusting it at her; Kuwabara fought him off with his freshly-summoned Spirit Sword. Before Umi was able to wonder what the hell Kuwabara was holding, she was upon Enlil, and mindlessly punched at him.

Nothing. Her fist went right through him. "Um, what the fuck?"

"Use your energy!" Kuwabara shouted, narrowly dodging one of Ferro's attacks. "Summon something!"

Enlil laughed, almost maniacally, as Umi stared incomprehensively at the fract, her mouth moving a mile a minute without any words escaping her lips. Water beats fire, lightening beats water, earth beats lightening, air beats earth, metal beats air--

All her energy having been focused on her hands, even Umi was surprised that she'd been able to summon something. It was steel, surprisingly cold in her hands, and long; her vague wish for something with which to fight had gotten her a spear. Not stopping to think why she'd summoned a spear, Umi focused on quickly identifying the balance of the weapon and gripping it right. Time was running out.

Enlil's laughter lessened to merely a look of amusement. "Girl, do you really think you can hit me with solid objects?"

"No, but I'm hoping to find out," she answered, bracing herself before swinging the pointed end at the fract. It took much more force than she had suspected it would, but the spear's edge dug into Enlil's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. "Cool, it worked!" Her exclamation of joy was cut short by a noise of disgust as his blood spattered onto her.

The air fract resolidified, looking enraged. He advanced upon the distracted girl, grabbing her by the shoulder and lifting her off the ground. Umi cried out in pain as his grip tightened in preparation for a throw, but the grip suddenly released as Enlil grunted in pain.

As the djinn doubled over, Yusuke snarked, "that's for choking me." He then proceeded to continually beat the creature; however, after the first few hits, Enlil was again of the air. "What the hell?!" Rage was in his countenance as he turned toward the elemental. Before he could even think of asking her what to do, the answer popped into his head. "Let me borrow that."

Umi handed him the spear thoughtlessly and watched as he began to assault the djinn with it. A few moments later, a loud cry came from a few feet away and drew her attention to its origin.

Kuwabara held the point on his torso where Ferro's rapier had stricken him, glaring at the fract with nothing but contempt.

"First point is mine," Ferro commented, amused, as he moved back into his fighting stance. "Shall we?"

Kuwabara growled, holding his Spirit sword up like a lance. "You're gonna get it this time, punk!" The fract initiated the next round, and they began again. The human ran full-force at Ferro, who easily dodged the blade, and quickly swung his blade at him. It missed, allowing Kuwabara to have another chance at hitting him. He missed. By a lot. So much, in fact, that Ferro began laughing uncontrollably. The fract nearly doubled over in laughter, and Kuwabara took this chance to strike at him. It hit squarely in the back, but nothing happened.

Or, at least, he didn't think anything happened. In actuality, a thick sheet of metal had appeared where the sword had supposedly hit the creature, and disappeared when Kuwabara drew his sword back.

"What the--?" Kuwabara's sentence was cut off by a heavy arm pounding him in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground and forcing his world into blackness for the next few moments.

"Demitrius," Ferro chided, "I wasn't finished."

"No time," Demitrius answered.

"True." The metal fract turned on the elemental, who was staring rather fearfully at the two. As Yusuke was distracted by the djinn (and would soon be distracted by the kelpie), Ferro was able to grab the girl, tossing her to Demitrius, who held her securely in place.

Rage began to accompany the fear in Umi as she attempted to struggle, but to no avail; she was held too tightly, and she ached too much to try hard enough to really call it an effort. Ferro picked up his rapier and made his waay over to the fract and the elemental, who was looking angrier and angrier by the step. When he was standing right in front of her, he murmured, amused, "Well, this seems familiar, doesn't it?" He laughed. She didn't. "Well, any last words, girl?"

For a few moments, she just glared at him, working on the perfectly snarky reply, but after that time she opened her mouth to retort something foul. Instead of words, however, flames came, burning his face.

Ferro screamed loudly, his hands clutching his face. Umi didn't have any reply; she was too shocked, too busy worrying about how she'd been able to do that. The surprise present on her face was accompanied by a strong gust of wind.

This time, Demitrius screamed, dropping her to the ground. The wind cut into his rocky flesh like so many sharp knives through butter. Umi watched, shocked, as the giant stone golem collapsed to the ground near his fellow fract. Scared, she backed up to where Yusuke was attempting to fight the water fract.

In the beginning, Yusuke had been doing well; but the fract had managed to liquefy himself in a pool of water, and Yusuke couldn't hit him, even with the elemental's spear, except for a few times when Ur had solidified to hit him.

"Come on out, you coward!" Yusuke shouted at the water that he and Umi were now standing in. As if in response to the call, Ur resolidified to attack Yusuke, but was grabbed mid-punch by the Spirit Detective. The water fract liquefied again to escape.

Absolutely truthfully, Umi was terrified when she saw Ur liquefy, and Yusuke saw her begin to spark. Just before she shocked the puddle of water that was Ur, he jumped, avoiding the electricity.

"That was pretty cool," Yusuke commented as he landed, following the lightening.

"That...was terrifying," Umi responded slowly, eyes wide.

"What was terrifying?" Kuwabara inquired, getting up while holding his head.

"Your face," Yusuke answered, earning laughter from each of the conscious humans. It took Kuwabara a moment to realize that he had been insulted, but wasn't going to argue it at that moment. They still had to cuff up the fracts and get them shipped off to Spirit World. They could sure use some help...where were Hiei and Kurama?

Hiei sprinted up the stairs as fast as his feet would carry him, cursing the constructor for making the building so damn tall. Upon reaching the top and kicking in the door, he saw nothing. Strange. And unnerving. Where was Kurama?

His answer came soon enough, in the form of a loud cracking, followed by an easily identifiable scream, which alerted him to the location of his answer. Darting over to that locale, he saw Kurama on the floor, one hand pinned under him, the other pinned behind his back by Orpheus. The succubus had his arm pulled back so far that it was popping out of its socket, causing the demon to cry out. From his vantage point, Hiei couldn't see what else Orpheus may have been doing, but it couldn't be good.

Swiftly unsheathing his sword, Hiei rammed the blade through Orpheus' chest and lifted his body off of Kurama. While the succubus gagged and sputtered through his blood, Hiei threw him off of his sword and into the far wall. He left the creature alone to check on Kurama.

"He hasn't harmed you in anyway?" he half-stated, keeping his eyes focused on the semi-conscious heap to which he was referring.

"No, nothing unmanageable," Kurama answered, getting up. A loud cracking was heard as he popped his arm back into its socket. "I still have all of my powers, but maybe not all of my energy."

"You should leave before anything else happens to you--"

"I can wait for you to finish here."

Hiei hn'd, throwing his blade at Orpheus, who had just begun to move again. The tip went right through his skull, killing him on impact and drawing a ridiculous, Hollywood display of blood and chunky bits that were once brain matter. The fire demon smiled as the blood ran down the walls, the body, and the blade.

Kurama chuckled, shaking his head. "Come on Hiei, let's go."

"I'm not going."

The fox demon stopped immediately. "You're joking."

"I don't joke," the fire demon informed, ripping his blade from the cadaver.

"Hiei, what are you saying?"

"I'm finally back in the Makai; I'm not going back to the Human World," he explained, wiping the gore from his sword.

Kurama couldn't say that he was surprised, but "caught off guard" wasn't a phrase that was out of the question, either. He knew that Hiei was difficult to persuade, but he was going to try it anyway; staying in the Makai was dangerous, and he knew of a certain someone who would object to it far more than he or anybody else would. "Never coming back? Won't you miss it?"

"No."

"Nothing about it?"

"No."

'Nobody in it?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Hiei simply turned a glare on the kitsune. Something in those crimson irises said he was lying, but Kurama was already pushing his luck. He nodded, closing his eyes. "Well, you know my door's always open."

"Hn." He paused for a moment, not looking at Kurama, but adding, "Tell her it's because I'm not human." The comment earned him a curious glance by the other demon, but he didn't bother to explain, and the other didn't bother to ask.

With that, Kurama walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Hiei sighed, looking out the window. Beyond the churning sea, he could see three humans, tired, bruised, bloodstained, but over excitedly chattering with over exaggerated gesticulation. His eyes focused on the girl. She was smiling so widely...she looked so...happy. He couldn't intrude on that. Realizing what he just thought, he shook his head. No, he didn't want to feel. He didn't want to be attached. He didn't want to be weak. That was why he was staying.

Definitely.

* * *

And that's all, folks. [/don't own that either]

I know, you're all broken up on the inside because that's a shitty ending. Well, let me explain why.

SEQUEL!

Yes, there is a sequel in the works in my brain. So look for that. The first chapter of that will be up soon enough. And it may have a slightly different...format...or something...to it. You'll see. It'll be awesome. Let me end with a bit of a precursor to this new format.

_And it's been a while  
Since I could hold my head up high  
And it's been a while since I first saw you  
And it's been a while since I could stand on my own two feet again  
And it's been a while since I could call you_

-_It's Been a While_, Staind


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